Background check: Matt Hughes
Posted on March 4, 2010, 08:21 AM by Rory KernaghanMatt Hughes was born October 13th 1973 in Illinois. He is 5ft 9in tall and weighs in at 170lbs with a 73 inch reach. Hughes has a brown belt in BJJ and was a division 1 NCAA all American wrestler. Hughes has a record of 43-7(15ko, 18sub) and fights out The H.I.T Squad in Illinois. His pro MMA debut was against Erick Snyder in 1998 at the JKD challenge, a match which Hughes won after Snyder submitted due to a big slam.
In his first 23 fights Hughes only lost once, to Dennis Hallman by guillotine choke. In his UFC debut Hughes beat Valeri Ignatov by unanimous decision. Since then Hughes has beaten such fighters as Joe Doerksen, Chris Haseman, Carlos Newton twice by KO, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg twice by sub, Georges St.Pierre, BJ Penn, Chris Lytle, Matt Serra and Joe Riggs among many others.
Hughes' first fight against Carlos Newton was for the UFC welterweight title and he went on to defend the title five times before losing it to BJ Penn, regaining it at UFC 50 against GSP and defending it two more times before losing it via TKO against Georges St. Pierre. Hughes will be back in action at UFC 112 where he faces Renzo Gracie who will be looking to avenges Matt's first round demolition of Royce Gracie who was dispatched in 4:39 at UFC 60. Future hall of famer Matt Hughes has provided some quality fights over the years and I hope for an exciting bout at UFC 112: Invincible.
Comments
Matt Hughes is a legend... hes given mma some of the best battles ever.
I personally do not like Hughes, hes so arrogant but there is no denying he's got skills. Renzo vs Hughes is going to be a great match
i have to say i do like hughes, you cannot deni wat he was acomplished in his carear, although i think he wont be champ again, he will still be a good test for up and comers in the ufc
I defo think he has what it takes to fight but I don't want to see him end up as one of those fighters who gets owned by young talent that would suck
dennis hallman beat him twice in under 40sec each time but matt is a savage
yes matt hughes is a legend but he's also a hasbeen!!
he might not be at the top of his game like he use to be, but he still gots the skills, and will put an ass whooping on Renzo
Matt is a bit over the hill, but so is Renzo. Great match up. I have to take Hughes here. Renzo can`t strike, Matt is stronger and knows enogh jiu-jitzu not to get subbed. Matt wins via ground and pound in rnd 2.
Matt is the man!!! He will probably put Gracie on the ground and punch him in the face till the ref makes him stop... but it will be a great fight!!!