Discover

'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 Champions Tim Sylvia, Pat Miletich and Jens Pulver. He holds notable wins over BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Frank Trigg, Royce Gracie, Hayato Sakurai, and Sean Sherk.
Hughes is known for his extreme strength and 'ground-and pound'.

Contents

MMA career

''The Ultimate Fighter''

Submission Wrestling

Personal life

Trivia

MMA record

Notes and references

External links

MMA career

Hughes won his first UFC Welterweight title at ''UFC 34: High Voltage'' on November 2, 2001 while caught in a triangle choke by Carlos Newton, Hughes lifted Newton in the air and slammed him to the mat causing Newton to hit his head and lose consciousness.
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 staggering Hughes with a barrage of punches. Eventually the fight went to the ground and Hughes fought off rear naked choke attempt. After escaping the choke, Hughes picked up Trigg and carried him across the Octagon and slammed him to the ground. After mounting Trigg and opening up a cut from elbows, Hughes secured the 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 an armlock from the side mount position; although Hughes appeared to have the submission in place, Gracie did not tap out and the fight continued. 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 with Hughes taking advantage. British MMA/wrestling magazine "Fighting Spirit" reported that Penn had sustained a rib injury late in round 2, leaving him gasping for air. This may explain his lack of performance in the latter round, though some attribute this to a lack of cardio. Afterwards, Georges St. Pierre (who was supposed to face Hughes at this event but pulled out due to injury) stepped into the ring and congratulated Hughes on his win, but also stated "I was not impressed by your 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.^[1] 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. When it appeared that the fight would be stopped, the bell rang signaling the end of the first round. 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 referee "Big" John 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'' and defeated Chris Lytle by unanimous decision winning every round.^[2]
Following an upset 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 Welterweight title in November of 2007 against Matt Serra. This fight has since been changed to December 29, 2007 in Las Vegas, at UFC 79. Hughes has also stated his intentions to go up to middleweight to fight champion Anderson Silva if former champion, Rich Franklin can't beat Silva in their rematch at UFC 77. Hughes stated that if this fight occurs, it would happen in 2008 following his scheduled title shot against Serra.

''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''. 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 upcoming TUF show, The Ultimate Fighter 6, alongside with current UFC welterweight champion, Matt Serra.

Submission Wrestling

Hughes has competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, in which he held a record of 2-2. This consists of wins over Ricardo Almeida and Jiu-Jitsu legend Jeremy Horn, and losses to fellow UFC fighters Jeff Monson and Tito Ortiz.

Personal life

Hughes and his wife Audra have two children, son Joey and daughter Hanna Grace. Interview with St. Louis Today.
Matt is five minutes older than his twin brother Mark. Matt and Mark have an older sister, Beth Ulricy.Interview with St. Louis Today.

Trivia

★ 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' 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 Southwestern Illinois College, a two-year college located in Belleville, Illinois before transfering to Lincoln College, in Lincoln, Illinois and then on to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.

MMA record

41-5-0 (wins-losses-draws) [3]
'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	Second consecutive, seventh total UFC title defense
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	First consecutive, sixth total UFC title defense
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	Fifth UFC title defense
4/25/2003	Win	Sean Sherk	UFC 42 - Sudden Impact	Decision (Unanimous)	5	5:00	Fourth UFC title defense
11/22/2002	Win	Gil Castillo	UFC 40 - Vendetta	TKO (Cut)	1	5:00	Third UFC title defense
7/13/2002	Win	Carlos Newton	UFC 38 - Brawl at the Hall	TKO (Strikes)	4	3:27	Second UFC title defense
3/22/2002	Win	Hayato Sakurai	UFC 36 - Worlds Collide	TKO (Strikes)	4	3:01	First UFC title defense
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	N/A
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

Notes and references

1. "''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
2. UFC 68: The Uprising
3. Sherdog Fight Finder - Matt Hughes' Mixed Martial Arts Statistics

External links

★ Matt Hughes' official website

★ Official UFC profile

★

★ IMDB page