Nurmagomedov catches Hughes with a hard right but Hughes comes back and trips Nurmagomedov before falling back himself.

And now we have a stoppage as Hughes eats a kick to the groin. He looks in some pain here.

Away we go in this HUGE fight. Can Hughes do it and become world champion?

He eats a couple of leg kick from Nurmagomedov to start the fight but both are feeling each other out here.

Image source, PFL

Moments away now, here's the tale of the tape!

What could end the fight tonight?

A strike to the head, a kick to the body, too many leg shots?

We'll find out soon enough.

All week we've been asking you to vote and you seem to be leaning towards Usman Nurmagomedov?

Your last chance to tell us who you are backing, thumbs up for Paul Hughes, thumbs down for Nurmagomedov.

The first fight between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes couldn't have been much closer and this is the break down of it.

Just makes tonight even more exciting, if you ask me.

Image source, Getty Images

Paul Hughes bounced back in style from that agonising loss against Usman Nurmagomedov with an explosive 42-second knockout victory over Bruno Miranda in his most recent fight in May in Belfast.

Fighting on home soil for the first time since 2019, Hughes produced an electric performance that matched the atmosphere in the SSE Arena.

Hughes needed a big performance in front of his home crowd to stake his claim for a rematch against Nurmagomedov and he delivered, taking advantage of a lazy kick from Brazilian Miranda by catching it and delivering his knockout blow.

"Usman Nurmagomedov, you can run and you can try delay this rematch as long as you want, but your day is coming," Hughes said in the aftermath.

Now, after months of waiting, the two will indeed lock horns again in for what is set to be another exhilarating bout in Dubai shortly with Hughes having only the need for redemption on his mind.

Image source, PFL

Dan Hardy was cageside for the first fight and he witnessed the brilliant bout between Paul Hughes and Usman Nurmagomedov.

He says Khabib Nurmagomedov was a nervous wreck in the corner!

"There was so much drama. The atmosphere in the arena, it felt very much 50-50 in there for Usman and Paul," Hardy told BBC Sport.

"The corner teams were tense as well - you could see Khabib [Nurmagomedov] pretending to choke people out in the corner.

"We had the groin strikes and clash of heads that played into it as well, it gave you everything you want from a first fight."

It's almost three years since Usman Nurmagomedov dominated Patricky 'Pitbull' Freire to win the Bellator lightweight title by unanimous decision at Bellator 288 in Chicago.

Here's a chance for you to refresh your memory of the fight or to see it for the first time.

Sean O'Connell
MMA commentator on DAZN

There is no question on whether Hughes has levelled up for this fight. The question is, has he done enough between January and today to do enough to beat Usman Nurmagomedov?

Here comes the champion.

Usman Nurmagomedov has that steely look of determination on his face again.

Dan Hardy
PFL chief

This won him 50% of the fight with McKee, he rattled him. And I saw it in Usman - he was trying to figure out why Paul was so confident and that can be very unnerving.

Usman probably isn't used to that type of confidence. That was a defining factor for the whole fight week.

Carl Frampton
Former world champion to BBC Sport

I think Paul can win this one. I felt he did enough to win the first fight but the head clash was a big moment. He came off worse but it happened at a time when Nurmagomedov needed a rest and he used all of his experience to take a break, which benefited him. Paul will be right up for this and should be the favourite because of what happened last time. I'm backing him to become Ireland's latest world champion.

Prediction: Hughes

Paul Hughes is taking his time with the ring walk, we've heard about three different songs as he soaks it all in.

Is this the night he becomes world champion?

Paul Hughes is a firm believer that tonight will be his night despite coming up short eight months ago.

"I believe I finish him," Hughes said. "I believe I drag him into deep water once again and this time I drown him. I have the ability to knock anyone out at any time.

"I also know I have the ability with this training camp to win every round, so whatever way it goes, it goes.

"I've had a 10-month training camp and a rematch. I've done five rounds [with Nurmagomedov], had plenty of reads, have had a rematch before in my career for a world title [against Jordan Vucenic for the Cage Warriors featherweight title in 2022].

"The second fight, I beat the guy 50-43 on some scorecards, so I've never been more confident."

This fight could play out in a number of ways given the talent of these two but our graphic below gives you a clue of where Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes like to go with their significant strikes.

No waiting around here!

Here comes Paul Hughes with the Irish flag draped over his shoulders.

This is some walkout song, like waiting for the boss fight in a movie.

These two men can win by any means necessary - as shown in our pie charts below.

Usman Nurmagomedov slightly favours the submission route while Paul Hughes has seen seven of his 14 wins come by way of knockout.

When meeting your heroes makes you think you're being booed.

When Cristiano Ronaldo arrived during the first round of one of Paul Hughes' fights, the crowd obviously started shouting "suiiii".

Have a listen to what Hughes thought of the moment.

Corey Anderson is in tears on his knees after being crowned PFL light-heavyweight world champion in a convincing win over Dovletdzhan Yagshimurado.

Now, it's time for the rematch. It's time for Usman Nurmagomedov v Paul Hughes.