Who knew that we’d get to witness a rematch between Dagestan and Ireland long after Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s retirement? Well, ‘The Eagle’s cousin, Usman Nurmagomedov is set to lock horns with Paul Hughes on 25th January. Hughes even tried to ask Conor McGregor to corner for him. Boy, that would have been awesome! With bad blood between their nations in the MMA realm, all eyes have been glued on the two as the date for PFL Road to Dubai inches closer. 

Needless to say, the duo have already begun the trash talk on the internet and raised the hype around the fight. While the excitement around the event is palpable, the fighting community wondered about the amount of money that the fighters would receive at the event. Let’s take a look at the payout.

Usman Nurmagomedov’s salary at PFL ‘Road to Dubai’

The last time Nurmagomedov fought was in September 2024, when he faced the formidable Alexander Shabily. It was his second successful title defense, as he defeated ‘Peresvet’ via a unanimous decision. For the win, the Dagestani champion took home a guaranteed pay of $150K. However, he wasn’t awarded any win bonus. This might have been because of the rumors about PFL running low on money after buying Bellator FC the previous year. 

The numbers were similar for Nurmagomedov back when he faced Brent Primus in 2023. He defeated Primus with a unanimous decision and pocketed a sum of $150K for showing up for the fight. However, his win was overturned to a no-contest after he failed a dr-g test. On top of that, the Dagestani lightweight didn’t receive any win bonus. 

Coming to the PFL Road to Dubai Champions Series, we can certainly expect Nurmagomedov to receive $150,000 just for showing up for the fight against Hughes. And if he succeeds in defending his lightweight title for the 3rd time, he can get his wallet thicker by half a million dollars. Well, this amount was previously supposed to be worth $1 million. But due to the apparent shortage of capital in the PFL, such a decision had to be made. Regardless of the current PFL pay, Nurmagomedov’s future seems to hold big bucks. 

Yes indeed! Nurmagomedov has been planning to move to the UFC. But he would take that decision only after Islam Makhachev was done with his career. During a conversation with Gorilla Fighting, after his win over Shabily, he said, “I’m waiting for Islam to finish his career and then I will [sign with the UFC]. I think if we get it right, we’ll be fighting in the UFC at 28, I’m 26 years old right now, in two years I’ll get stronger and that’s it. Go into the UFC at 28 and compete until I’m 32.”

But what about Paul Hughes? Let’s put an estimate on how much the Irish mixed martial artist might earn at Ireland vs. Dagestan 2.

What is Paul Hughes’ payout against Usman?

The purse for Hughes is slightly higher than that of Nurmagomedov. Back when he fought AJ McKee at PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants and won via a split decision, he received a sum of $200K. Again, no win bonus was awarded to the fighters. But prior to that, when he faced Bobby King at Bellator Champions Series Dublin in June 2024, he received a base salary of $30K. And knocking out King in the second round got him another $30,000 as a win bonus. 

At the PFL Road to Dubai Champions Series, we can expect ‘Big News’ to bag a similar amount, i.e., $200K, as his guaranteed pay. But if he wins the lightweight title, he’d receive $500K as a prize. However, this amount was a bit disappointing for the Irish fighter. After all, he gave up the chance to fight in the Octagon because of the million-dollar championships.

In an interview with MMA Junkie back in May 2024, the former Cage Warriors champion revealed the reason why he chose to fight at PFL. He said, “The main driving force behind it was the 2025 $1 million tournament, which I’ll be entering. I’m 27 years old. If I get the opportunity to have $1 million in the bank at 27, I think I’m doing pretty damn good. Fighters need to capitalize in this game. It’s that simple. The last thing I want is to be someone who gave my life to this game and came out the other side with no money in the end.” 

Little did Hughes know that the prize money would be cut in half. Nevertheless, the PFL does have to pay the fighters their base salaries. So how much would the fight promotion award the co-main eventers and others for their performance on the 25th of January?

How much are Vadim Nemkov, Tim Johnson, and others earning?

In the co-main event of Road to Dubai, Vadim Nemkov is set to clash against Tim Johnson. This is supposedly the last fight for Nemkov under the banner of PFL. For this, he might receive a remuneration of somewhere between $80K to $150K. On the other hand, Johnson’s career earnings are $141K. He can be expected to earn an amount ranging from $80-150K. Akhmed Magomedov might get a paycheck of $10-22K, while his opponent, Nathan Kelly, might receive about $10K. 

Apart from their salaries, the fighters have a chance of getting the $500K win bonus. This is an amount that all 64 contestants can have a claim on if they win. Well, the PFL did promise to pay out more than $20 million in prize money. But we still need to wait for the 25th to know the actual purse. 

Are you excited to watch Ireland vs. Dagestan 2? Who do you think would rise victorious in the main event? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.