MMA Spotlight 5.22.08: Matt Hughes - Three fights to Conclude a Career

Posted by Reuel Mante on 05.22.2008

An icon will be closing the book on an awesome legacy.



Matt Hughes caused quite a stir when he was taped mentioning how he has a few fights left during the Ultimate Fighter 6 competition. Then, at UFC 79, he was dominated in an Interim Welterweight Title fight against Georges St. Pierre. Ever since that loss, I've been reading about how some people believe that he no longer has what it takes to compete at this level. Honestly, I am sick to my stomach hearing about those allegations. Hughes is by far the greatest wrestler that legitimized the welterweight division in all of MMA. Fighters from all over the world who tried to prove themselves as the best fell before this man and his thick neck. The list of opponents he has defeated goes on and on. Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn, Sean Sherk, Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Newton, Frank Trigg, and Royce Gracie, just to name a few.

Let's take a look at the storied career of Matt Hughes.

After losing his first fight in October of 1998 to Dennis Hallman, Hughes went on an eighteen fight win streak defeating the likes of Joe Doerksen and Akihiro Gono. Then in December of 2000, Dennis Hallman would defeat Matt for second time needing only twenty seconds to catch him in an armbar. Two weeks later, Matt would be knocked out by Jose Landi-Jons suffering his third defeat. As crushing as two straight losses can be to a fighter (look at Tito Ortiz), Hughes embarked on a seven fight win streak to earn a UFC Welterweight Championship fight against Carlos Newton.

The first Carlos Newton/Matt Hughes fight was pretty uneventful until about a minute into the second round. Matt was caught in a triangle choke by Newton. Hughes proceeded to pick up Carlos and carry him to the cage all the while still locked in the triangle. What happened next has been up for debate for far too long. With Newton up against the cage and the triangle firmly locked in, Hughes knocked out Carlos
with a powerbomb. A lot of fight fans argue that Matt was knocked out as well which explains why he was loopy when Big John McCarthy told him he won. If that truly is the case, the fight should have been stopped as a double knockout. But it didn't and the farmer from Iowa was finally a champion.

Hughes went on to successfully defend the belt five times before facing a man who he believed was beneath him. Oh how lessons are taught to us, reminding us to be humble, kind and forgiving. B.J. Penn decided to go up in weight to challenge for the Welterweight Championship against Matt Hughes. Penn, who previously dominated the lightweight division, was given a snowball's chance in hell to win the fight. After Matt had tried a takedown only to end up on his back, Penn would choke out the champion with twenty-one seconds left in the first round. Not resting on his laurels, Hughes bounced back with another win streak which is arguably his greatest streak. Within six fights, Matt defeated GSP to win back his title, destroyed a legend in Royce Gracie, came back from a dangerous near-finish against Frank Trigg, and avenged his loss to B.J. Penn. Not too shabby. Many fighters would only dream to have a two-year run like that.

November of 2006 to December 2007 ended up being quite a lack-luster year for Hughes. UFC 65 featured the rematch with GSP and Matt for the Welterweight title. St. Pierre's superior striking would prove to be the smoking gun that ended Matt's reign as he was dominated until the referee stopped the fight at one minute and twenty-five seconds of round two. Hughes returned to face Chris Lytle at UFC 68. In a technical and somewhat boring fight, Matt was awarded a unanimous decision. The rest of 2007 featured the wrestler as a coach in the Ultimate Fighter 6. The opposing coach was UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra. Despite having all but two of his fighters eliminated by the quarterfinal round, Hughes led both Tommy Speer and Mac Danzig to the finals.

After season six was over, the original main event of UFC 79 was Matt Serra defending his belt against Hughes. However, Serra had to pull out of the fight due to an injury. As was stated earlier, Matt faced off against GSP for a third time and was submitted towards the end of round two.

In two weeks, Matt Hughes will return to the Octagon to save what would have been a disaster of an event at UFC 85: Bedlam. Facing off against Thiago Alves will be no easy task but it seems that this fight might be too easy for the future Hall of Fame inductee. Alves has proven that he is a dangerous striker with a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But in the past, he's had problems with wrestlers. Look at his fight with John Fitch. Thiago was finished at the end of round two. Hughes has the experience edge and the strength advantage in this fight. The verdict: an exciting fight ending with a TKO by strikes per Matt Hughes. I am not particularly excited about this fight since Matt has stated he only has a few fights left in him. 2008 to 2009 could conceivably be the last years that we'll see Hughes in competition. If this truly is the case, there are three fights I would love to see end his career with.

1.Josh Koscheck
Both Hughes and Koscheck come from the same mold of Mark Coleman who
innovated ground and pound. The Kos and Matt both have unparalleled wrestling skills; it would be interesting to see who is better at the takedown. However, Hughes is extremely skilled with submissions being trained by both Jeremy Horn and Pat Militech. Josh Koscheck has shown improved stand up skills like in his fight with Diego Sanchez. If these two were to face off, you're looking at the welterweight version of Tyson Griffin vs. Frankie Edgar.

2. Karo Parysian
This fight was supposed to happen at UFC 56: Full Throttle but Karo pulled out of the fight due to injury. Honestly, there really is no pressing need to have this fight happen other than the fact that this fight never took place. Sure, the contrast of styles would be interesting to see. Wrestling vs. Judo. Karo is always ready to bring it and Matt has one constant forward gear when he is in control.

3. B.J. Penn
What better way than to fight a man you are 1 and 1 with to see who is truly the best. It took Penn one round to put Matt away while three rounds was what it took for Matt to win the rematch. People tuned in to see how Hughes/St. Pierre 3 turned out. Penn/Hughes 3 will bring in some buy rates by the thousands. Guaranteed!

Do I think these fights will happen? Probably not. Hughes is slated to fight Matt Serra some time later this year as both Matts have stated they want to finish what they started on the Ultimate Fighter. Speculation has gone around saying that Serra could be the last man Hughes will fight before retiring. I will be one of the few who will be sad to see him go. How can I like the guy, you ask? Well, he's a wrestler like I used to be. He's a stand up guy. Anything he says, he can back up. Matt is a proud family man. Most importantly, he's a devout Christian. In this day and age, it's honorable when someone who's in the spotlight as much as he's been over the years doesn't shy away from what makes him a whole person. He has not forgotten where he comes from and how he got to where he is today. I know, several times in the media Hughes has come off like a real dick but I choose not judge people based on what reality T.V. wants to show us. Whenever the day comes when he decides to hang it up for good, remember it as the day when a consummate professional and athlete said goodbye.