{"id":68260,"date":"2026-02-09T07:52:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/?p=68260"},"modified":"2026-02-09T07:52:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:52:02","slug":"nurmagomedov-retains-pfl-lightweight-title-in-dubai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/nurmagomedov-retains-pfl-lightweight-title-in-dubai\/","title":{"rendered":"Nurmagomedov Retains PFL Lightweight Title In Dubai"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian fighter Usman Nurmagomedov successfully retained his Professional Fighters League (PFL) lightweight world title after defeating Britain\u2019s Alfie Davis by submission in the fourth round, in the main event of the PFL championship held in Dubai<\/a> last night at Coca-Cola Arena.<\/p>\n

The event was organised through a partnership between the Professional Fighters League, Dubai Sports Council and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the emirate\u2019s position as a global destination for hosting major international sporting events.<\/p>\n

Nurmagomedov controlled the bout from the opening round, imposing a high tempo through varied striking and constant pressure. Midway through the fourth round, he secured a decisive takedown before finishing the contest with an innovative submission that combined an arm-triangle choke and a rear-naked choke, securing another successful defence of his world title.<\/p>\n

With this victory, the 27-year-old extended his unbeaten professional record to 22 wins, registering his fifth successful defence of the PFL lightweight title and reaffirming his status as one of the leading figures in mixed martial arts.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the fight, Nurmagomedov expressed his satisfaction with the result, noting that the game plan had been clear from the outset. \u201cI won the fight exactly as I planned. I made him work, I made him tired, and with time the result was inevitable,\u201d he said, while also thanking his father and coaching team for their continued support throughout his career.<\/p>\n

The championship night witnessed a strong crowd turnout and the presence of several prominent sports figures, including former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua. Nurmagomedov was accompanied during his walk to the cage by his coach and cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov, alongside a number of leading mixed martial arts stars.<\/p>\n

In the co-main event, Russia\u2019s Ramazan Kuramagomedov claimed the welterweight title after defeating compatriot Shamil Musayev by unanimous decision. Elsewhere on the card, France\u2019s Abdoul Abdouraguimov overcame Canada\u2019s Kendly St. Louis by split decision, while Russia\u2019s Salamat Isbulayev secured a first-round technical knockout victory over Peru\u2019s Jesus Pinedo. Iran\u2019s Pouya Rahmani also earned a second-round submission win against American Karl Williams.<\/p>\n

In the preliminary bouts, Russia\u2019s Amru Magomedov defeated American Colton England by first-round technical knockout, France\u2019s Taylor Lapilus stopped Russia\u2019s Qasim Qasumov via third-round TKO, while Russia\u2019s Renat Khavalov and Meksharab Zenokov both claimed unanimous decision victories.<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s division, Dutch fighter Denise Kielholtz defeated Brazil\u2019s Antonia Silvaneide by unanimous decision. Britain\u2019s Luke Trainer submitted Australia\u2019s Rob Wilkinson in the first round, while Russia\u2019s Habib Nabiyev defeated Egypt\u2019s Ahmed Sami by second-round TKO, and Brazil\u2019s Johnny Gregory submitted Britain\u2019s Haider Khan in the opening round.<\/p>\n

The championship forms part of the PFL\u2019s global event series in the region, highlighting Dubai\u2019s growing role as a regional and international hub for mixed martial arts and major competitive sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian fighter Usman Nurmagomedov successfully retained his Professional Fighters League (PFL) lightweight world title after defeating Britain\u2019s Alfie Davis by submission in the fourth round, in the main event of the PFL championship held in Dubai last night at Coca-Cola Arena. The event was organised through a partnership between the Professional Fighters League, Dubai Sports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68262,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68260\/revisions\/68262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}