What a career Matt Hughes has had. Nine-times welterweight champion, joint most wins in The UFC (with Chuck Liddell), victories over Royce Gracie, Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Carlos Newton, Joe Riggs and Frank Trigg to name a few.
But is it time to retire?
After Hughes lost to Thiago Alves in June 2008 he said he had one fight left in him against Matt Serra, which he finally won in May 2009. Expectation, certainly in my mind, was that he would retire after the Serra bout but it seems the winning bug now has Hughes insisting he wants to fight again against the likes of GSP and Alves.
Matt has fought them both before of course, beating GSP once out of three attempts and losing to Thiago Alves in the only time they met. It’s worth remembering that one of those GSP defeats came when then-champion Serra got injured – dashing Hughes’ chances of becoming champion for the third time. GSP stepped in as Serra’s replacement, Hughes was beaten and the St-Pierre phenomenon rumbles on.
The Thiago Alves loss came in similar circumstance in England at UFC85, where once again the fight was scheduled at short notice. How many fighters out there would take just one of those fights at short notice - let alone both – against the number one and two fighters at 170 pounds (Although in Alves' case he wasn't quite at 170 pounds!). Credit to Hughes, he’s a fighter’s fighter.
Unfortunately, it is that same willingness to get in The Octagon that now sees him edging towards what will surely be another beating if he rematches either of the afore-mentioned GSP or Thiago Alves.
I really do not see how Matt will benefit from fighting either of them again. Dana is unlikely to put him in with the winner or even the loser of when the pair meet at UFC 100 as Matt has only won two of his last five fights and, even if Dana did, I don’t think Matt has the trademark explosiveness or intensity left in him to beat either of those two.
Matt has his own gym and training squad called the H.I.T squad which has three founding members: Matt Hughes, Robbie Lawler and Marc Fiore. Matt runs the gym with Fiore who is the wrestling and grappling coach there. Matt also has a clothing line called OneMoreRound which is worn by fighters such as Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Heath Herring, Kenny Florian and Jeremy Horn to name a few. Notorious cuts man Stitch is the ambassador for OMR clothing and you will always see him wearing either a wristband or a jacket promoting OMR whether he is fixing a cut in The UFC or even when he works the corners in boxing.
This shows that Matt doesn’t need to fight for money – after all – let’s not forget he still has his farm too!
MMA right now is in a period when it is gathering new fans quicker than ever. Those fans need to know who the legends of the sport are, rather than forming inaccurate opinions on ageing versions of Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes who merely fight one fight too many.
Matt is a legend of the sport and can retire tomorrow with his head held high and no-one would question his decision. I am sure we all think the same and don’t want him to be like so many others who have fought well past their sell-by date. What is going for Matt is he said he won’t fight anywhere else so if he doesn’t fight for The UFC again he will retire. It’s good to see such loyalty, and it’s good to know we will not see Hughes fighting anywhere other than at MMA’s top table.
In my opinion, hang your gloves up now Matt and enjoy sharing your skills with all the new fighters in your gym. Victory over your rival Serra is the perfect way to end your career.
As one final thought to leave you with as a place in The UFC’s Hall of Fame beckons for Hughes… how about an Ultimate Fighter series with coaches from the Hall of Fame? I’m thinking Matt vs Royce Gracie? How great would that be…
Mat Gibbins