UFC Quick Quote: Searching for the old Matt Hughes against Thiago Alves at UFC 85

by MMAmania.com on May 7, 2008 6:33 PM EDT Comment 53 comments

"[Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell] can still do it, so there’s no reason why I can’t. I’ve pulled out some of the old Matt Hughes tapes and I’m trying to get back to being that fighter.... I feel like I have a lot of good fights still left and I’m excited about it. I’m thankful this opportunity came along with Thiago, because Serra’s not going to be ready to fight for a while after his fight with Georges and I’m anxious to get back. Nobody should write me off just yet.... To be honest, I like the matchup [against Thiago Alves]. He’s a stand-up guy. On the ground, he’s not nearly as dangerous. I’ll be stronger, I believe I’ll be the better wrestler and I like the fact he’s kind of a slow starter. I think I can wear him out before he gets going."*

-- Matt Hughes talks to Yahoo!Sports.com about returning to his old form against Thiago Alves during the UFC 85: "Bedlam" main event at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7. The former champion -- who dominated the welterweight division for several years -- has dropped two of his last three fights (albeit both to current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre). Hughes took the bout on relative short notice after an injury to superstar Chuck Liddell forced him off the card.

*Note that the quote mash up above has been flipped around a bit to better suit this post, but it's all Hughes verbatim.

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Hughes by decision.

by dakilla on May 7, 2008 9:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i definetly like matt hughes his chance against thiago..the only real factor i see is matt’s experience i see this 3rd submission hughes!

by twizted203 on May 7, 2008 9:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Matt Hughes is a down home all American boy that we (Americans) would all want in our Platoon in the middle of battle. I for one love Country folk as they are the salt of the earht and the backbone of this great country, the good ol USA. WAR Hughes.

by Howie on May 7, 2008 10:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But unfortunately that has nothing to do with anything in the octagon. Hughes does need to get back to his old self. He has seemed a little lackadaisical recently, with no fire and/or gameplan. If he fights like that,Alves will kill him. If he can get his head and heart back into it, this could be great matchup!

by chefdaddy on May 8, 2008 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ohhhh…..and his bowl hair cut is sweet.

by Howie on May 7, 2008 10:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bowl haircut ? Anyways… I think Hughes will win this, everyone is so quick to write this guy off just because he’s lost two out of his last three. Well those loses were to GSP, any fighter would have 2 loses if they fought Georges twice.
It will be sweet to see him win this and it would make for some interesting matchups down the road.

by Vera-Liddell-GSP-Edgar on May 7, 2008 11:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not Matt Serra. And maybe not BJ Penn (I’m dying to find out though lol).

by Pat on May 8, 2008 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was never a big fan of Hughes, especially against St. Pierre. Mostly due to his ego at the time and his thinking that God was his corner man but he seems to have been humbled since then, and for the sake of the UFC and the division I hope his fight game improves or gets back to what he thinks it’s capable of.

by Dumas on May 7, 2008 11:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’ve got Thiago in this one, ushering in the new MMA fighter era; the ALL AROUND fighter.

Hughes is old school.

by DefyTheEye on May 7, 2008 11:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I second that!

by Kahaluu caz! on May 8, 2008 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have never understood why so many people seem to dislike Matt Hughes. He seems like a clean cut, hard working, all-American guy. He honestly speaks his mind, but he is not disrespectful or profane. I have always liked him and hope that he gets back to his winning ways. I am especially looking forward to him fighting Matt Serra. I hope Hughes submits Serra with a wedgie.

by DrPepper on May 7, 2008 11:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think it’s because Matt Hughes is too preachy. Nobody likes a preacher unless it’s their job lol.

by Pat on May 8, 2008 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, do you remember Hughes mugging into the camera when Serra beat GSP and saying, “I LOVE it! I LOVE it!” Stuff he does like that is why people hate on him. Total disrespect for other fighters. He may be more humble now, but having yourself humiliated twice by the next great WW does that.

by DJ on May 8, 2008 6:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

up till recent he has been one of the most arrogant and cocky mma fighters ever! he reffered himself as the "queen" in a passage in the bible on tuf. now thats arrogance. w/ all that aside he does seem to be a tough match-up for alves. i see some posters saying that he needs to be the matt hughes of old but i disagree. he needs to be the matt hughes of today. he's not as young and terrifying anymore as he used to be. and the fighters are getting better everday, we'll see if an old dog can learn some new tricks.

by b.w. on May 8, 2008 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Or when he asked GSP if he wanted to learn an armbar defense before their second fight when GSP was a guest coach on TUF? Kinda funny how that work itself out in the 3rd fight. Anyway, I do like Matt Hughes and he isn’t always an a-hole like most say, he talks a little smack which I don’t think there’s anything wrong with. I think he’s earned it and I think he comes away with this fight.

Also OFF TOPIC but does anyone have the injury report for UFC 83? I’d like to hear some of the injuries.

by Shadyone33 on May 8, 2008 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

HUGHES SAID HE LOVED IT BECAUSE HE WAS VERY HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO CRUSH SERRA IN THEIR UPCOMING FIGHT,,,NOT LAUGHING AT G.S.P.!!!!!!!!

by G.S.P.P4P.CHAMP!!! on May 8, 2008 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alves will ko Hughes.

by pitbull on May 7, 2008 11:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

ALVES IS A STERIOD HEAD, WHOM WILL BE COMPLETELY DOMINATED BY THE VETERAN MATT HUGHES……..SORRY ABOUT YOUR LUCK!! LOLOLOLLOLOLOL…….!!!!!!!

by G.S.P.P4P.CHAMP!!! on May 8, 2008 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know if the “old” Matt Hughes is what’s best. He needs to evolve. If Matt trained more Muay Thai and BJJ, he’d be closer to GSP. The only thing I would bring back from the old Hughes is aggressiveness. The old Matt Hughes would have finished Chris Lytle.

by Pat on May 8, 2008 12:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i hope Matt uses one of his old slams. remember when he was dominating everyone before his 2nd fight with GSP. slams where quite prominent in his game plan back then. one of my favorite slams was from back when he fought Carlos Newton the 1st time. of course that ended in contraversy, because Newton choked him out. so the next time they fought, Matt pinned Carlos’s arm in a crucifix & pounded the hell out of him until the ref stopped the fight. his 2 fights against Frank Trigg were both awesome. IMO the 2nd was better. Frank kicked Matt in the nuts & the ref didn’t see. so when Matt was looking at the ref Frank tried to capitalize. he temporaliy had Matt in serious trouble with choke, but Matt hung in there until he could reverse the situation.
those are 4 old fights Matt should watch to remember his old self.

by the Levi on May 8, 2008 12:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like Matt and think he definately has what it takes to win some big fights…he just needs to throw the gas on the fire before it burns out.

by Chadx23 on May 8, 2008 12:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hughes will never lose….unless he fights St. Pierre.

by c-war on May 8, 2008 1:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He’d lose to BJ.

by Pat on May 8, 2008 1:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

HE WILL LOSE TO BJ PENN WHEN THEY RUBBER MATCH IT! NO CONTEST!

by ( (Adam G) ) on May 8, 2008 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

not a chance,,,,HUGHES WOULD DESTROY BJ PENN 9 OUTTA 10 FIGHTS,,,BJ is a small and pudgie guy, who should stay in the lightwieght division IF HE KNOWS WHATS GOOD FOR HIM….LOLOLOLOLOLOLL…G.S.P.#1.P4P.CHAMP!!

by G.S.P.P4P.CHAMP!!! on May 8, 2008 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he would lose to bj also. Hughes is like Franklin in the middle weight division. As long as gsp is still there I dont even care to see him fight, but I guess if they cant beat hughes they have no business fighting gsp

by Solmonsen on May 8, 2008 3:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’d pay money to watch a Hughes or Franklin fight any day. They are like the Champions of their division. Anyone who beats them stands a good chance at taking on the champs (Silva or GSP)… and anyone who fights either or those two guys before they fight Hughes or Franklin IMO didn’t actually deserve their title shot.

by Smokes on May 8, 2008 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m also going to add in here that if Sherk loses his fight with Penn then he will join Hughes and Franklin in being the 2nd in line in his division. Sorry but there aren’t any people in each of their divisions that comes to mind that can take them. Who else would be Sherk?

by Smokes on May 13, 2008 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hughes said last year that he thought he only had a few more fights in him. After reading this article that seems to have changed. My guess is he knows that if he beats Alves and then Serra (high probability that he does) he could fight again for the title. Honestly who is the next in line after Fitch? No one has been on a streak. Karo lost and Kos has won one fight since his loss to GSP. Everyone else is second tier, though a few are knockin on the top tier door.

by GodannarJunkie on May 8, 2008 3:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He’s got Alves, then later in the year he will have that fight with Serra. If he wins both of those I suppose he would have to be considered a title contender, but if not any fights he takes will just be for pay days.

by PW on May 8, 2008 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

G.S.P. WONT FIGHT SERRA AGAIN,,,,SERRA HAS PROVEN THAT HE DOESNT BELONG IN THE SAME OCTAGON AS RUSH!!!!! HE COULD NEVER GET SOOOOOOOOOOOO LUCKY AGAIN!!!

by G.S.P.P4P.CHAMP!!! on May 8, 2008 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I totally agree here. If Hughes beats Alves he just beat the next guy in line after Fitch. I also think that the fight following the Serra match could possibly be against Kos himself. I said this once and I’ll say it again Kos and Alves are the only other two legitimate contenders to take Hughes on. GSP would win of course and I don’t see a BJ/Hughes fighter happening ever again.

by Smokes on May 8, 2008 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also to all the haters who say he hasn’t looked dominant lately. with the exception of losing to the next welterweight hall of famer(GSP), Hughes has beaten everyone else. Do i wish he had put Lytle away? (and Pat I totally agree with you) Yeah but he thoroughly dominated him all three rounds, lets give Lytle some credit. Before that Hughes last loss came from Penn at UFC 46 like 4 or 5 years ago.

by GodannarJunkie on May 8, 2008 4:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Anyone who refers to themselves in the 3rd person deserves to lose. “Matt Hughes got the Old Matt Hughes tapes out.”

Thiago by TKO.

by UKmmaBoy on May 8, 2008 4:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LOL. Reminds me of the old Seinfeld-3rd person talker episode.

by chefdaddy on May 8, 2008 8:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jimmy’s got a thing for Elaine. Elaine is just Jimmy’s type.

by PW on May 8, 2008 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He’s not talking about himself in 3rd person, he’s trying to make the claim that he’s talking about a whole nother fighter all together. Smokes says grow up, anyone who works as hard as Hughes deserves to win.

by Smokes on May 8, 2008 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like Hughes here. if he fights sensible and takes Alves down then i think Hughes will finish the fight on the ground. However, if he tries to stand up with Alves there is a good chance he’ll get KO’d. Stick to what you know best Hughes!

by UKMMA on May 8, 2008 4:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This should be a good fight. We’re all waiting for Matt vs. Matt though.

by Mamas Boy on May 8, 2008 5:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LoL!!!! Im not waiting for it, who cares?!? The only time i ever need to see hughes again is when Penn returns the favor!

by ( (Adam G) ) on May 8, 2008 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

PENN SHOULD BE VERY VERY VERY WORRIED ABOUT SHERK!!
THE MUSCLE SHARK IS GOING TO EAT PENN FOR A SNACK IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS,,,,PERHAPS THERE IS A LIGHTER/WEAKER DIVISION EVEN STILL , THAT THE UFC CAN COME-UP-WITH WHEN PENN GETS HUMILIATED BY SHERK>????PERHAPS WEC FIGHTER IN THE NEAR FUTURE………..#1 G.S.P. AND #2 MATT HUGHES!!!!!!PENN IS NOT, AND NEVER WILL BE IN THIER LEAGUE…………PERIOD!!!!!!!

by G.S.P.P4P.CHAMP!!! on May 8, 2008 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry man I’m a huge Hughes and Sherk fan but Penn can take both of them on. I do think that both of them can beat Penn but I don’t think that either of them can humiliate Penn and I also do think that Penn can beat them both.

by Smokes on May 13, 2008 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This should be a good fight..This is a great match-up to see what Hughesus has to offer the UFC in the future..Alves is a bad dude and I wouldn’t be suprised at all if he pulled out a win…I am, by no means!, a Matt Hughesus fan, but I cant sit hear and say he sucks, because he is very skilled, and I do believe he has a couple more good years left(at least 1)..Alves coming of a big win over Karo will be hard to beat, but I think I am going with Hughes on this one..
As much as I hate him, Props to Hughesus Christ for steping up to fight GSP and then fighting a high end fighter, while he waits for Serra, rather then fighting a can..

by Stagger-Lee on May 8, 2008 8:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i hope he does as well, i wanna see hughes destroy him and finish the fight but i see a ud instead,

by bryant on May 8, 2008 8:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hope he finds something soon, Penn will be moving back up to WW in no time and something tells me Matt’s top priority as a tune up fight for the GSP rematch. . . And BJ’s gonna whoop that *ss BAD!!! HA!

by ( (Adam G) ) on May 8, 2008 9:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I really don’t see Matt looking to lose any fights. He already beat Penn to avenge his loss to Penn earlier and he lost to GSP twice now. I think what Hughes wants to do now is just certify that he is the best WW there was and he handed his crown down to GSP. Hughes can make alot of money off of a Penn fight but it just won’t happen.

by Smokes on May 14, 2008 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I respect Hughes for even taking this fight.

by bostonmmajunkie on May 8, 2008 10:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

oh man, iole mentions a possible 4th fight with st. pierre?! there’s is no possible way that fight makes any sense at all. silve/franklin, at least franklin got off some stuff in both fights. hughes just got straight schooled like he was a 10yr old boy, getting it worse the second time even. hughes can’t possibly be looking at another go at georges.

by Phil Baloni on May 8, 2008 10:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like Matt Hughes but when he talks about trying to go back to the old Matt Hughes…..it just doesnt make sense. He hasnt changed, the sport has just evolved with more well rounded fighters. Matt Hughes is getting what Royce Gracie got when he came back to the UFC. His Wrestling alone isnt enough anymore.

by Max on May 8, 2008 12:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He does need to have the fire and intensity in his fights that he did in the past. I believe that is what people mean when they say he needs to be the old Matt Hughes.

I think what people are not seeing especially in his last 3 fights is that will to win that he had in the past. The last fight he had where he showed that champions resolve was the second time he fought Penn. He lost the first two rounds and then destroyed Penn in the 3rd. That is the Matt Hughes we need to see from now on. It doesn’t matter what his game plan is if he comes with that intensity he will be very difficult to beat.

I am rooting for Hughes but if he fights like he did against Lytle in this one he will not win.

by MMAFan1981 on May 8, 2008 12:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The only one to really make Hughes look bad is GSP. Hughes will probably look his old dominant self against tiago unless he eats some of those sick kicks. But then again, I picked Karo over Thiago I wouldn’t be money on this one.

If hughes beats Thiago and then beats Serra there’s no reason he shouldn’t be one fight away from another title shot. But in all fairness, he should have to get through swick or davis first..

by Spitforce on May 8, 2008 1:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs