"Obviously, I'm going to have to review the fight to better understand and give a clearer assessment of my performance. I think the judges' evaluations are ridiculous. I'm just judging from the energy in the arena and the crowd around the cage. But I'm not going to make excuses. I should have pressed harder and I'll do it next time. I know we'll meet again.
I felt like the stoppage in the fourth round when we collided heads changed the course of the fight. I felt like I started to break Usman down. Hitting him so hard to the body that I could feel him wheezing from those punches. I picked up the pace and emptied my tank and as a result Usman recovered, this also affected the outcome of the fight. And the head kick was a fluke, he had every right to recover. I'm certainly disappointed and devastated, but I'm also proud of myself. I deserve to win this title soon," Hughes is quoted by Cageside.
Recall that Hughes lost to Nurmagomedov by majority decision of the judges.