Matt Hughes (fighter)
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| Matt Hughes | |
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| Statistics | |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Nationality |  American |
| Born | October 13, 1973 (age 33) |
| Fighting out of | Hillsboro, Illinois |
| Town of birth | Hillsboro, Illinois |
| Fighting style | Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 42 [1] |
| By knockout | 13 |
| By submission | 18 |
| Losses | 5 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Matthew Allen Hughes (born October 13, 1973 in Hillsboro, Illinois) is a professional mixed martial arts fighter and a former UFC Welterweight Champion. He trains as part of the Miletich Fighting Systems team along with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, and former UFC champions Pat Miletich and Jens Pulver.
Hughes is known for his grappling skills, extreme strength and ground-and-pound style. A devout Christian, he has a twin brother named Mark Hughes who wrestled and defeated Matt in Junior High School. His brother no longer trains in mixed martial arts, but has competed in the UFC.
Contents |
[edit] MMA career
Hughes won his first UFC Welterweight title at UFC 34: High Voltage on November 2, 2001 by knocking out Carlos Newton with a "powerbomb" slam just as he himself was about to pass out from Newton's triangle choke. 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 B.J. 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. After being accidentally hit in the groin early in the first round, Hughes looked to the referee; however, the referee had not seen the strike and Trigg capitalized on Hughes' distraction by taking him down into a ground and pound and rear naked choke attempt situation that lasted nearly two minutes. Trigg was unable to secure the choke cleanly, however, and Hughes was able to escape and go on to win a decisive second victory with a rear naked choke of his own. Hughes's 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. Hughes defeated Riggs in the first round by kimura. The match was originally scheduled as a title bout, but since Riggs could not meet the 170-pound Welterweight weight limit, it became a non-title fight. On May 27, 2006, Matt Hughes defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Royce Gracie by strikes from the back mount position. Moments before the stoppage, Royce Gracie was caught in a modified armbar from the side mount position; although Hughes appeared to have the submission locked in, he did not finish it. After the fight he told Grappling Magazine that he "let go of the armbar because he did not want to break Gracie's arm".
In September 2006, Hughes defended his title in a rematch against B.J. Penn, stopping him in the third round. Although Penn dominated the first 2 rounds, he struggled in the third and Hughes took advantage, British MMA/wrestling magazine Fighting Spirit reported that Penn had received a rib injury late in round 2, which meant that he was struggling to breathe at that point of the fight, so that is why his performance dipped and Hughes was able to pick up the victory. Afterwards, GSP (who was supposed to face Hughes at this event but pulled out due to injury) later claimed that he was "unimpressed" by Hughes' performance.
On November 18, 2006 at UFC 65: Bad Intentions, Georges St. Pierre defeated Matt Hughes by TKO via strikes at 1:25 of round two, ending Hughes' title reign. 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. Hughes however stated in his post fight interview that the second kick mainly affected his legs, rather than his groin.[2] 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 referee John McCarthy to call a stop to the contest at 1:25 of the second round.
On March 3 2007, Hughes returned to the Octagon for UFC 68: Uprising and defeated Chris Lytle by unanimous decision. (30-27)(30-27)(30-27).[3]
[edit] The Ultimate Fighter
In 2005, Hughes participated as a coach opposite Rich Franklin in the second season of the Spike TV reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter.
[edit] Personal life
Hughes is married to Audra and has two children, son Joey and daughter Hanna Grace.
Matt is five minutes older than his twin brother Mark.Matt and Mark have an older sister, Beth Ulricy.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Hughes was two-time 145 lb. state wrestling champion for IHSA (Illinois High School Association) Class A in 1991 and 1992.
- Matt is a two-time Division I All-American wrestler, with an 8th and a 5th place finish in the 158 lb. division.
- Matt Hughes' Octagon entrance music is "A Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams Jr.
- Hughes supports the Rancho3M orphanage in Mexico and some of the profit from his gear, which he sells through his website, goes to the orphanage.
- Hughes went to college at Lincoln College, in Lincoln, Illinois and then at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.
[edit] MMA record
| 41-5-0 (wins-losses-draws) [1][4] | |||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Method | Round | Time | Notes |
| 03/03/2007 | Win | Chris Lytle | UFC 68 - The Uprising | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | All 3 Judges Score 30-27 |
| 11/18/2006 | Loss | Georges St. Pierre | UFC 65 - Bad Intentions | TKO (Strikes) | 2 | 1:25 | Lost UFC Welterweight Title |
| 9/23/2006 | Win | B.J. Penn | UFC 63 - Hughes vs. Penn | TKO (Strikes) | 3 | 3:53 | UFC Welterweight Title |
| 5/27/2006 | Win | Royce Gracie | UFC 60 - Hughes vs. Gracie | TKO (Strikes) | 1 | 4:39 | Catchweight non-title fight |
| 11/19/2005 | Win | Joe Riggs | UFC 56 - Full Force | Submission (Kimura) | 1 | 3:28 | Non-title fight (Riggs was unable to make weight) |
| 4/16/2005 | Win | Frank Trigg | UFC 52 - Couture vs Liddell 2 | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 1 | 4:05 | UFC Welterweight Title |
| 10/22/2004 | Win | Georges St. Pierre | UFC 50 - The War of '04 | Submission (Armbar) | 1 | 4:59 | Regained UFC Welterweight Title |
| 6/19/2004 | Win | Renato Verissimo | UFC 48 - Payback | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 1/31/2004 | Loss | B.J. Penn | UFC 46 - Supernatural | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 1 | 4:39 | Lost UFC Welterweight Title |
| 11/21/2003 | Win | Frank Trigg | UFC 45 - Revolution | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 1 | 3:54 | |
| 4/25/2003 | Win | Sean Sherk | UFC 42 - Sudden Impact | Decision (Unanimous) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| 11/22/2002 | Win | Gil Castillo | UFC 40 - Vendetta | TKO (Cut) | 1 | 5:00 | |
| 7/13/2002 | Win | Carlos Newton | UFC 38 - Brawl at the Hall | TKO (Strikes) | 4 | 3:27 | |
| 3/22/2002 | Win | Hayato Sakurai | UFC 36 - Worlds Collide | TKO (Strikes) | 4 | 3:01 | |
| 11/2/2001 | Win | Carlos Newton | UFC 34 - High Voltage | KO (Slam) | 2 | 1:27 | Won UFC Welterweight Title |
| 9/8/2001 | Win | Steve Gomm | EC 43-Extreme Challenge 43 | TKO | 2 | 3:18 | |
| 8/11/2001 | Win | Hiromitsu Kanehara | Rings-10th Anniversary | Decision (Majority) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 7/13/2001 | Win | Chatt Lavender | EC 41-Extreme Challenge 41 | Submission (Side Choke) | 3 | 2:31 | |
| 6/16/2001 | Win | Scott Johnson | EC 40-Extreme Challenge 40 | KO | 1 | 3:24 | |
| 5/11/2001 | Win | John Cronk | Gladiators 14 | Submission (Strikes) | N/A | N/A | |
| 3/31/2001 | Win | Bruce Nelson | FCC 4-Freestyle Combat Challenge 4 | Submission (Strikes) | 1 | 3:01 | |
| 3/17/2001 | Win | Brett Al-azzawi | Rings USA-Battle of Champions | Submission (Armbar) | 1 | 3:27 | |
| 2/8/2001 | Loss | Jose Landi-Jons | Shidokan Jitsu-Warriors War 1 | KO (Knee to the Head) | 1 | 4:45 | |
| 12/16/2000 | Loss | Dennis Hallman | UFC 29 - Defense of the Belts | Submission (Armbar) | 1 | 0:20 | |
| 11/12/2000 | Win | Maynard Marcum | Rings Australia-Free Fight Battle | Submission (Keylock) | 1 | 6:29 | |
| 9/30/2000 | Win | Robbie Newman | Rings USA-Rising Stars Final | Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) | 1 | 1:40 | |
| 8/23/2000 | Win | Chris Haseman | Rings-Millennium Combine 3 | Decision (Unanimous) | 2 | 5:00 | |
| 6/29/2000 | Win | Joe Guist | EC 35-Extreme Challenge 35 | Submission (Armbar) | 1 | 2:45 | |
| 6/9/2000 | Win | Marcelo Aguiar | UFC 26 - Ultimate Field of Dreams | TKO (Cut) | 1 | 4:34 | |
| 5/21/2000 | Win | Shawn Peters | EC 32-Extreme Challenge 32 | Submission (Choke) | 1 | 2:52 | |
| 5/13/2000 | Win | Alexandre Barros | WEF 9-World Class | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 4/15/2000 | Win | Eric DaVila | SB 17-SuperBrawl 17 | Submission (Keylock) | 2 | 3:24 | |
| 1/15/2000 | Win | Jorge Pereira | WEF 8-Goin' Platinum | TKO (Doctor Stoppage) | 1 | 6:00 | |
| 11/20/1999 | Win | Daniel Vianna | IE-Independent Event | TKO (Slam) | 1 | ? | |
| 11/13/1999 | Win | LaVerne Clark | EC 29-Extreme Challenge 29 | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 2 | 1:35 | |
| 11/13/1999 | Win | Tom Schmitz | EC 29-Extreme Challenge 29 | Submission (Eye Injury) | 1 | 0:48 | |
| 11/13/1999 | Win | Joe Doerksen | EC 29-Extreme Challenge 29 | Submission (Strikes) | 2 | 0:25 | |
| 9/24/1999 | Win | Valeri Ignatov | UFC 22 - There Can Be Only One Champion | Decision | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 5/29/1999 | Win | Akihiro Gono | Shooto-10th Anniversary Event | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 4/24/1999 | Win | Erick Snyder | JKD-Challenge 4 | TKO (Slam) | N/A | N/A | |
| 4/2/1999 | Win | Joe Stern | EC 23-Extreme Challenge 23 | Submission | 1 | 2:30 | |
| 12/11/1998 | Win | Ryan Stout | ES-Extreme Shootfighting | TKO (Towel Thrown In) | 2 | 5:00 | |
| 10/17/1998 | Loss | Dennis Hallman | EC 21-Extreme Challenge 21 | TKO (Guillotine Choke) | 1 | 0:17 | |
| 10/17/1998 | Win | Dave Menne | EC 21-Extreme Challenge 21 | Decision | 1 | 15:00 | |
| 10/17/1998 | Win | Victor Hunsaker | EC 21-Extreme Challenge 21 | TKO (Strikes) | 1 | 1:39 | |
| 4/25/1998 | Win | Craig Quick | JKD-Challenge 1 | Submission (Strikes) | N/A | N/A | |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b Hughes' official website & Sherdog profile record one less win than his UFC profile. The record listed here represents the one given on his official website & Sherdog profile.
- ^ "The second time I went down, it wasn't really because of my groin, but it affected my legs more than my groin. I don't know if it's a nerve thing or what happened." Matt Hughes, UFC 65 post fight press conference
- ^ UFC 68: The Uprising
- ^ Sherdog Fight Finder - Matt Hughes' Mixed Martial Arts Statistics. Retrieved on 2006-06-02.
[edit] External links
| Previous champion Carlos Newton |
3rd UFC Welterweight Champion November 2, 2001 - January 31, 2004 |
Next champion BJ Penn |
| Previous champion BJ Penn |
5th UFC Welterweight Champion |
Next champion Georges St. Pierre |
| The Ultimate Fighter - Season 2 | |
|---|---|
| Josh Burkman | Dan Christison | Luke Cummo | Marcus Davis | Rashad Evans | Melvin Guillard | Jorge Gurgel | Brad Imes | Keith Jardine | Eli Joslin | Rob MacDonald | Sammy Morgan | Tom Murphy | Seth Petruzelli | Kerry Schall | Kenny Stevens | Joe Stevenson | Anthony Torres | Jason Von Flue | Mike Whitehead
Coaches: Rich Franklin | Matt Hughes |
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