Cage Warriors Sign Paul Hughes To Exclusive 5-Fight Deal. Hughes Secures 1st-Round Submission In Impressive Debut.

After a series of opponents falling through, Paul Hughes (now 3-0) finally made his debut under the Cage Warriors promotional banner on Friday night at the BT Studios in London, and the Fight Academy Ireland featherweight certainly didn’t disappoint.

Hughes submitted his opponent Mateusz Makarowski (3-2) via rear-naked choke in the 1st round. The match-up was announced just three days out from the Cage Warriors Unplugged 2 card, with Makarowski and Hughes competing at a 164lbs catch-weight.

Hughes and Makarowski came out of the gate swinging, spending the opening minute exchanging on the feet. Hughes pressed the action against the cage and landed a slam takedown in the centre of the cage, and it wasn’t long before he had taken Makarowski’s back and secured the rear-naked choke finish.

Now we see why fighters are avoiding Paul Hughes! Ireland continues to rise 🇮🇪

A beautiful submission win in the first round 🐍#CWUnplugged2 pic.twitter.com/X4YokfxLNH

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 6, 2019

After the fight, Cage Warriors announced via Twitter that Hughes has signed an exclusive five-fight deal with the promotion, his debut being the first of those five.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS

We're pleased to announce that @paulhughesmma's win tonight was the first fight of exclusive 5️⃣-fight deal with Cage Warriors.

Expect much more from the Irishman. 🇮🇪#CWUnplugged2

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) September 6, 2019

Fans can probably expect to see Hughes on the recently-announced Cork card, as Cage Warriors makes a return to Ireland later in the year.