For a man who is billed as "the most dominant welterweight of all time," Matt Hughes is getting no respect from the oddsmakers in his upcoming fight against Josh Koscheck.
The battle of old school vs. new takes place at the UFC 135: "Jones vs. Rampage" pay-per-view event this Saturday night (Sept. 24) from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
Is this fight closer than the bookies would have you believe?
Koscheck is a whopping -500 favorite against Hughes, who limps in as the +400 dawg.
After Thiago Alves booted him from the 170-pound title hunt back in 2008, the fist-fighting farmer managed to string together three consecutive wins before B.J. Penn pasted him at the 21-second mark of their rubber match at the UFC 123: "Rampage vs. Machida" event last November.
Hughes, who turns 38 in October, has been enjoying some downtime after a busy 2010 fight campaign that saw the flinty farmboy compile a 2-1 record with wins over Renzo Gracie (UFC 112) and Ricardo Almeida (UFC 117) before the aforementioned drubbing in his Hawaiian trilogy.
Can a bout against Koscheck push him back over the hump? Or just over the hill?
"Kos" hasn't been seen since an absolute drubbing he suffered at the hands of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre back in Dec. 2010.
The standout wrestler-turned-striker got jabbed to death and left Canada with a broken orbital that required surgery and months of long and hard rehabilitation. But he's back now and he's finally got that match-up against Hughes, one he's been wanting since 2009. Time to put up or shut up.
Anyone plunking down some coin on this welterweight wrestle-fest?
For more UFC 135 odds and betting lines check out Odds Shark by clicking here.