Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes trade words during heated faceoff: "Brotha who are you?"

Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes will battle in the coming days, and the intensity has reached a fever pitch before their looming title bout. Nurmagomedov will look to maintain his unbeaten pro MMA record and his Bellator lightweight belt against a surging contender in Hughes.

This bout for 155-pound gold will headline the PFL Road to Dubai Champions Series on Jan. 25, and tensions were high during fight week proceedings.

The faceoff started with Hughes declaring it was his time and exclaiming, "Let's go," prompting Nurmagomedov to turn his attention towards his challenger. Nurmagomedov replied, "We can do it here," suggesting a readiness to fight right then and there, but Hughes reminded him that their showdown was scheduled for four days later.

Hughes advised the champion to stay focused on fight day. Nurmagomedov confidently replied that he remains focused all day, every day.

When the Irish MMA fighter insinuated that the champion was overlooking him, Nurmagomedov dismissively asked:

"Brotha, who are you?"

Shortly after, the defending titleholder walked away from the faceoff, laughing off Hughes' claim that a new champion was in town. The clip concluded with Hughes responding to Nurmagomedov's laughter:

"That's your mistake."

Check out the heated faceoff with Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes below:

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Usman Nurmagomedov responds to Umar Nurmagomedov's UFC 311 setback

Usman Nurmagomedov is unbeaten in pro MMA, but the same can no longer be said for Umar Nurmagomedov when the dust settled from the prior weekend's UFC card.

Umar Nurmagomedov suffered the first blemish on his mixed martial arts record in a 135-pound title bid that he lost on points to Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 311 co-main event on Jan. 18.

The 26-year-old seems quite focused on the task for this weekend's PFL card, but some wondered if Usman may have been affected by this unique setback for his older brother.

Usman praised Umar's performance on social media ahead of his Bellator title defense. To go the distance against someone some see as the bantamweight GOAT in Merab Dvalishvili after sustaining this injury in the bout's opening frame was impressive to many, including Usman.

Later, Usman Nurmagomedov stated that despite thinking Umar Nurmagomedov should be the new UFC champion, they would work on their mistakes and come back stronger than ever (in translations that were derived from the online posts).