Irish MMA star Paul Hughes issues unfiltered response to Josh Thomson brutally slamming the PFL in recent rant: "They are the UNDERDOGS"
The PFL has drawn recent criticism from former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson, but one of the promotion's current stars in Paul Hughes has come to its defense. In a recent interview with the MMA Junkie, Thomson blasted the the promotion for its apparent inability to create stars and build a compelling alternative to the UFC.
Moreover, Thomson accused the promotion's founder Donn Davis of being ignorant regarding MMA. He even claimed that Davis had approached him while he was doing broadcast work for the promotion to tell him how excited he was to watch him, a retired fighter, fight. In response, Hughes said:
"The @PFLMMA have provided me the platform to completely change my life and my career in 9 months. The staff have been absolutely amazing to deal with the entire time. I find it disappointing that it has become a trend to hate on them. They are the UNDERDOGS, fighting to make a CHANGE in an industry where the athletes are under served and underpaid. MOST of us fighters end up leaving the game with no money (and a lot of brain damage). This will only change if organisations like PFL continue to succeed."
It is important to note that Hughes did not provide a rebuttal to any of Thomson's points, he merely defended the integrity of the promotion and expressed gratitude for the platform he has been given.
Paul Hughes recently headlined a PFL event
There's good reason for Paul Hughes to defend the promotion from Josh Thomson's criticism. Two months ago, he faced undefeated Dagestani wrestler and Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov in the main event of PFL Champions Series 1.
It was a far more competitive bout than initially expected, with Hughes proving extremely difficult for Nurmagomedov to outwrestle and outmuscle.
Unfortunately, the bout was marred by controversy, as Nurmagomedov landed repeated groin kicks in round three, for which he was deducted one point. Yet, the champion still emerged victorious via majority decision, despite tiring and reacting poorly to body shots.
This led to accusations of poor judging, and demands for a rematch from Hughes, which Nurmagomedov does not seem keen on granting.