The Lowdown 05.02.09: Matt Hughes

Posted by Frank Fedele on 05.02.2009

Last week we looked at a young fighter in Lyoto Machida. This week on the Lowdown we will look at a grizzled veteran of the octagon, Matt Hughes. Hughes will finally settle his grudge match with Matt Serra in UFC 98 on May 23rd.

Last Week Roundup

Lyoto Machida always causes discussion and last weeks article was no different. Surprisingly, the comments were in support of the young Brazilian. His style may be growing on people and he has been showing off more of his abilities in his last couple of fights. Maybe he will have some crowd support in his fights against Rashad.

This week in the Lowdown we are going to go to the other side of the scale, a veteran of the octagon, 35 year old Matt Hughes.

Background

Hughes came from a wrestling background out of Hillsboro, IL. He was a high school All-American wrestler and went on to Eastern Illinois and earned All-American honors there also. He started fighting soon after college and began his training with the Miletich fighting system under Pat Miletich in Bettendorf, IA. There Matt trained with Jeremy Horn, Jens Pulver and Tim Sylvia. He began his fighting career in the UFC in 1999 at UFC 22 with a decision over Valeri Ignatov. He began plowing through the Welterweight division, tasting defeat only once versus Dennis Hallman in UFC 29. He ran off six wins before falling to B.J. Penn in UFC 46. He won the Welterweight title twice, defeating Carlos Newton and Georges St. Pierre.

He utilizes his college wrestling background, preferring to take his opponent down and pound them out until he gets a victory. He also has added a submission game to his arsenal, utilizing the rear naked choke to take his opponents out.


Hughes with his Welterweight belt

Previous Fights

Hughes was dominant for years in the UFC, pounding out opponent after opponent. After his loss to B.J. Penn in UFC 46, he ran off a six fight streak beating opponents like Georges St. Pierre, Frank Trigg, Royce Gracie and B.J. Penn. The Gracie fight was billed as the old veteran against the new age of MMA in Hughes. Hughes beat him rather handily, winning in 1st round.


Hughes pounding out Royce Gracie for a dominant win

When Hughes fought Georges St. Pierre for the second time, chinks began to show in his fighting game. St. Pierre knocked Hughes out in the 2nd round of UFC 65 with his striking game, finally taking out Hughes with a kick to the head. Hughes lost his Welterweight title that night.


St. Pierre taking out Matt Hughes

Hughes began the trek back to contention soon after, beating Chris Lytle in UFC 68. Hughes next fight was the rubber match with St. Pierre in UFC 79. Hughes again tasted defeat in the 2nd round to an arm bar this time. Hughes attempted to put himself back in the title picture, elated that St. Pierre lost to Matt Serra in UFC 69. Hughes hated Serra and he thought was very beatable. Hughes didn't get to meet Serra due to injuries and instead faced Thiago Alves in UFC 85 where he was knocked out in the 2nd round.

This made Hughes 1-3 in his last four fights. Not good.

Hughes UFC Record
UFC 22: Win versus Valeri Ignatov by decision
UFC 26: Win versus Marcello Aguiar by TKO
UFC 29: Loss to Dennis Hallman by submission
UFC 34: Win versus Carlos Newton by Knockout
UFC 36: Win versus Hayato Sakurai by TKO
UFC 38: Win versus Carlos Newton by TKO
UFC 40: Win versus Gil Castillo by TKO
UFC 42: Win versus Sean Sherk by decision
UFC 45: Win versus Frank Trigg by submission
UFC 46: Loss to B.J. Penn by submission
UFC 48: Win versus Renato Verissimo by decision
UFC 50: Win versus Georges St. Pierre by submission
UFC 52: Win versus Frank Trigg by submission
UFC 56: Win versus Joe Riggs by submission
UFC 60: Win versus Royce Gracie by TKO
UFC 63: Win versus B.J. Penn by TKO
UFC 65: Loss to Georges St. Pierre by TKO
UFC 68: Win versus Chris Lytle by decision
UFC 79: Loss to Georges St. Pierre by submission
UFC 85: Loss to Thiago Alves by TKO


The UFC decided to pit Hughes against his nemesis Matt Serra in UFC 98 to hopefully get him back on the winning track.

Final Thoughts

The fight versus Matt Serra should be a good matchup for Hughes. Hughes has shown weakness in his last four fights versus strong strikers, which Serra is not. Serra will strike with Hughes, but will try to use his Jiu-Jitsu skills to submit Hughes on the ground. Both fighters are in their thirties and don't have many fights left in them now. If Hughes does manage to beat Serra, his future matchups aren't promising. Georges St. Pierre seems to have figured Hughes out and Hughes odds there would not be good. Hughes could fight Jon Fitch, but his striking could also prove troublesome for Hughes.

This could be the second pay per view in a row where we say goodbye to a stalwart of the Octagon after seeing Chuck Liddell go down last time. Hughes is one of my favorite fighters in the UFC and I must admit I get a rush when I hear "A country boy can survive" begin to play. He was dominant for many years, but just might have been passed by the younger more well rounder fighters now in the UFC. I will still root for him when he steps in against Serra and hope to see vintage Hughes come out just one more time.

That is all for this week, please come back next week where we will get the lowdown on another MMA fighter. Please take the time to bookmark 411mania.com. One quick step and all the news you need is but a click away.