#10
Matt Hughes
Summary: Takedowns, wrestling ability, physical strength
Fighter Info
From: | Hillsboro, Illinois USA |
Age: | 37 |
Height: | 5' 9" ( 175 cm ) |
Weight: | 170 lb ( 77 kg ) |
Hughes won his first UFC World Welterweight title at UFC 34: High Voltage on November 2, 2001. Hughes was caught in a triangle choke by Carlos Newton, but Hughes lifted Newton in the air and slammed him to the mat, causing Newton to hit his head and lose consciousness just as Hughes was on the verge of blacking out himself from the choke.[7] After the match Carlos stated that he felt the reason Hughes fell to the mat was because he was rendered unconscious from the triangle choke.[7] This was confirmed by Hughes himself upon reviewing the tape of the match Hughes can be heard telling his corner after the fight "I was out." In their subsequent rematch, Hughes won by technical knockout when he successfully trapped Newton in a modified crucifix position, which allowed him to rain unanswered blows on Newton's defenseless face.
He successfully defended his championship belt several times thereafter, defeating Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Newton (in a rematch), Gil Castillo, Sean Sherk, and Frank Trigg. He kept the title until UFC 46, when he was submitted by Hawaiian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist B.J. Penn via rear naked choke. The title was vacated upon a contract dispute between Penn and the UFC. Hughes regained the vacant welterweight title by submitting Canadian contender Georges St-Pierre via armbar in the final second of the first round at UFC 50.
After regaining his title, Hughes successfully retained it in a rematch with Frank Trigg at UFC 52. After being accidentally hit in the groin early in the first round, Hughes looked to the referee for assistance; however, the referee had not seen the strike and Trigg capitalized on Hughes' distraction by staggering Hughes with a barrage of punches. The fight quickly went to the ground, with Trigg ground-and-pounding Hughes, then attempting a rear naked choke. After nearly two minutes of struggling, Hughes broke free of Trigg's choke attempt, then picked Trigg up, carried him across the Octagon, and slammed him to the ground. Hughes then ground-and-pounded Trigg before securing the victory with a rear naked choke of his own. Hughes' next fight took place at UFC 56, where he was scheduled to fight Judo practitioner Karo Parisyan. After Parysian suffered a hamstring injury and could not fight, Joe Riggs took his place. The match was originally scheduled as a title bout, but since Riggs could not meet the 170-pound weight limit, it became a non-title fight. Hughes defeated Riggs in the first round by kimura. In UFC 60, on May 27, 2006, Hughes defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Royce Gracie in a non-title, catch-weight bout by TKO (strikes). Before the stoppage, Gracie was caught in an armlock from the side mount position; although Hughes appeared to have the submission in place, Gracie would not tap out. Hughes has stated in past interviews that he could not get enough leverage on Gracie's arm to break it, thus he released the hold to pursue a more dominant position.
Hughes and Penn before their match at UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn
In September 2006, Hughes defended his title in a rematch against B.J. Penn, stopping him in the third round. Hughes trapped Penn's arm and landed approximately 40 blows to the defenseless Penn's unprotected face,
On November 18, 2006 at UFC 65: Bad Intentions, Georges St-Pierre defeated Hughes by TKO via strikes at 1:25 of round two, ending Hughes' title reign.[8] In the first round, Hughes sustained two unintentional kicks near the groin; after Hughes went down from the second kick, St-Pierre was given a warning by referee "Big" John McCarthy.[9] Hughes however stated in his post fight interview that the second kick mainly affected his legs, rather than his groin.[10] Nearing the end of the first round, St-Pierre landed a 'superman' punch, which floored Hughes. St-Pierre then followed up with strikes on his stunned opponent.[9] When it appeared that the fight would be stopped, the bell rang signaling the end of the first round.[9] It was in the second round that St-Pierre ended the fight with a head kick which stunned Hughes and knocked him to the mat, following up with a flurry of punches and elbows that forced McCarthy to call a stop to the contest at 1:25 of round 2.
On March 3, 2007, Hughes returned to the Octagon for UFC 68: Uprising, defeating Chris Lytle by unanimous decision, winning 30–27 on all three judges' scorecards.[11]
Following a championship win by Matt Serra over Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69, it was announced by UFC President Dana White that Hughes will again be fighting for the World Welterweight title in November 2007 against Serra. This fight was later changed to December 29, 2007 in Las Vegas, at UFC 79: Nemesis. On November 24, however, Serra sustained a herniated disc in his lower back and had to inform the UFC that he would not be able to compete for an indeterminate time.[12] As a replacement for the Serra/Hughes title match, the UFC quickly signed a rubber match between Hughes and St-Pierre which would also be for the UFC Interim Welterweight Championship. Despite his best efforts, Hughes was unable to mount any serious offense on St-Pierre, who easily avoided all of Hughes' takedown attempts while also taking Hughes down at will and using Hughes' own ground-and-pound style against him.[13] Near the end of the second round, St-Pierre attempted a kimura on Hughes' right arm that he escaped,[14] but in a reversal of their first fight, St-Pierre was able to twist it into a straight armbar with fifteen seconds remaining in the round. Hughes fought the extension, but with his left hand trapped between the mat and St-Pierre's legs, was forced to verbally submit at 4:54 of the second round.[15] In the post-fight interview, Hughes praised St-Pierre as the better fighter and stated his intention to take some time off and spend with his family.
In late mid 2007, Hughes left the Miletich camp with Miletich stablemate Robbie Lawler, longtime boxing coach Matt Pena, and wrestling/conditioning teacher Marc Fiore to form The H.I.T.(Hughes Intensive Training) Squad in Granite City, Illinois.
Hughes fought Thiago Alves at UFC 85: BEDLAM on June 7, 2008. Hughes lost the fight to Thiago Alves due to referee stoppage (TKO strikes) at 1:02 in round 2. After receiving a powerful flying knee from Alves he dropped to the ground with his own left knee pinned behind his hips, ultimately leaving him with a torn MCL and partially torn PCL. Hughes took the fight on short notice as a favor to the UFC. Alves failed to make weight for the match, but Hughes elected to fight him at a catch weight anyway.[
In 2005, Hughes participated as a coach opposite Rich Franklin in the second season of the Spike TV reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter. In 2007, Hughes participated as a guest coach for long time friend and training partner, Jens Pulver during The Ultimate Fighter 5 season.
Hughes agreed to be head coach again for the The Ultimate Fighter 6, alongside former UFC World welterweight champion, Matt Serra.[17] Despite the fact that after the preliminary round, Team Hughes' record was 2–6, both Mac Danzig and Tommy Speer of Team Hughes made it to the finals.
Immediately after the Alves fight, Hughes stated that he had "one more fight" left in him, and that he wanted to fight Matt Serra. Their rivalry stemmed from the time when Serra was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter and Hughes a coach. Serra did not like the way Hughes criticized other contestants on the show, and was disgusted when Hughes constantly picked on Georges St-Pierre during a lunch break and bragged about his submission victory.[18] On January 9, 2009, Hughes confirmed on his web-site blog, that UFC 98 would likely be the day he and Serra met in the Octagon. The fight was confirmed by the UFC.[19]
Hughes won the grudge match against Serra at UFC 98 via unanimous decision. After the fight Hughes and Serra embraced each other and ended their feud. Hughes posted on his blog: "When the fight was over, I was pretty confident I was going to get my hand raised. Some people have asked why I raised his hand at the end. Actually I didn't, he raised mine. He also told me that, no matter what the decision was, he was done with the rivalry".[20] After the fight Matt Hughes said "I think I have a few more fights left in me."
Hughes signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC.[21] Hughes defeated Renzo Gracie via third round TKO at UFC 112, setting the record for most wins in the UFC with 17.[22] On May 28, 2010, Hughes was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.[3] Hughes choked Renzo Gracie student and 3rd degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Ricardo Almeida unconscious via Farmaconda (Anaconda choke)[23][24] at 3:15 of round 1, on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117.[25][26]
Hughes faced BJ Penn on November 20, 2010 at for the third time at UFC 123.[27] Penn came out strong in the first few seconds of the opening round, catching one of Hughes' kicks and knocking him off balance with a counter hook. Penn then connected with an overhand right that dropped Hughes, following up with three clean shots to the jaw. The bout was ended at 21 seconds into the first round, with his legendary trilogy with Penn ending with 1 win to 2 losses. The fight marked the first time Hughes had been knocked out (he had previously lost via technical knockout). Post-fight Hughes hinted that the loss was one step closer to retirement.
Hughes is expected to face Diego Sanchez on September 24, 2011 in Denver, CO.
