Video: Irish UFC hopeful Paul Hughes bludgeons opponent at Cage Warriors 170

Will Sean Shelby be making a phone call to Paul Hughes? Only time will tell.

[autotag]Paul Hughes[/autotag] continues to do everything he can so the UFC comes calling.

Saturday at Cage Warriors 170 in Dublin, Ireland’s Hughes (11-1) thrilled his home country crowd with another scintilating first-round TKO – this time, over experienced veteran [autotag]Fabiano Silva[/autotag] (34-16-1).

The stoppage came at the 4:37 mark of Round 1 and began with a big flying knee. Another knee was followed by punches, then hard ground-and-pound elbows until the referee jumped in.

Silva was Hughes’ third opponent for this event and stepped in on less than one week’s notice.

European MMA fans and experts alike have been hankering for Hughes to receive the UFC call. Time will only tell if the promotion finally thinks it’s time to onboard Hughes, who is now a free agent.

Hughes, 26, has won five fights in a row. The only loss of his career came by split decision against Jordan Vucenic, whom he defeated in a rematch about two years later. In 11 pro fights, Hughes has eight finishes with five TKOs and three submissions.