Everyone on the Irish MMA scene has no idea why Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paul Hughes hasn’t been signed to the UFC. 

In November ’22, fresh off back-to-back wins over Morgan Charriere and Jordan Vucenic, it seemed like his signing was all but a formality. Yet, ten months later, his lightweight debut has been announced as the main event for Cage Warriors 161 in Dublin’s RDS on October 14th. 

Hughes joins The Craic to talk about the copious rumours of his signings, conspiracies about why he hasn’t been signed, the late announcement of his next bout and why he has decided to move up to 155 for his meeting with surging Belgian Yan Quaeyhaegens for the highly anticipated Dublin event.