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Made In Chaos with Ryan Curtis Podcast
Paul Hughes: The Steroid Problem in MMA Is Worse Than You Think

Paul Hughes: The Steroid Problem in MMA Is Worse Than You Think

Made In Chaos with Ryan Curtis vor 1 Monat

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1:36:24

Doctors Told Him He Might Never Fight Again. Now He's One
of the Best Fighters Ireland Has Ever Produced. Paul Hughes on
Injuries, the Usman Fights, PEDs and the Real Cost of
Winning.

Paul Hughes is one of the biggest names in Irish MMA — a former
Cage Warriors world champion who's twice gone five rounds with
Usman Nurmagomedov for a world title, and beaten some of the best
fighters on the planet. But the road here nearly ended before it
started: multiple hand fractures early in his career had doctors
telling him he might have to retire.

Ryan — who's trained alongside Paul at Fight Academy Ireland —
sits down with him for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about
belief, sacrifice, and the parts of the fight game nobody sees.

What we get into:

Where his almost abnormal competitiveness actually comes from

The brutal reality of cutting weight, and why it's the
hardest part of the sport

Delusional self-belief, "proof," and how confidence is really
built

Four hand fractures, surgery, and two years out at 19 — and
what got him through

The "filter": why every level weeds more people out, and how
he uses that mindset

Why "success is just who's willing to suffer more" — and the
real cost of winning

The two Usman fights, and how good Usman Nurmagomedov
actually is

The untold story: fighting the second Usman fight on a badly
broken body

Why he views MMA as "kill or be killed" in the cage, and pure
respect after

Fighter pay, fighter welfare, and why so many leave the sport
with nothing

The PED problem in MMA, out-of-competition testing, and why
he's speaking out

Why he chose PFL over the UFC — and has no regrets

What he wants to do when fighting's over

Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from
the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos
exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into
hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.

Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis

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