Liverpool's Connor Hughes is preparing for a pivotal moment in his MMA career.
With a 10-1-0 record, Hughes bounced back from his first loss to Dylan Tuke last year in perfect fashion, with three successive wins and now he finds himself in the final of 2024 PFL Europe lightweight tournament.
If Hughes is to be awarded the belt on Saturday night, live on DAZN, he will have to get past the defending champion Jakub Kaszuba.
For a fight of this magnitude, every possible avenue is being covered in training camp and Hughes revealed in an exclusive interview with DAZN News that one of his idols, Saul Rogers, has been a crucial part to his preparations.
"My coach Jason Tan, he’s known Saul Rogers for a few years, we’re both under SBG UK," Hughes said.
"We reached out to Saul because we felt that he was a perfect sparring partner for a style like Jakub’s.
"I used to watch Saul on the Ultimate Fighter when he was on with McGregor vs. Fabe and that was before I even started training in MMA."
The effect training with Rogers had on Hughes was clear to see as his happiness was on show when continuing to discuss the experience.
"It was a mad experience. I watched this guy on the telly with the possibility of doing MMA one day, now I’m training with him, picking his brain on his game and his experience. It’s crazy what MMA does.
"To be here now, it’s a pinch me moment."
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