Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes has a new book hitting stores soon. The Sun has been leaking excerpts the last few days right here.
The latest one recalls the unsanctioned street fight between then UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz, and former UFC fighter-turned alleged bank robber, Lee Murray, after UFC 38 in July 2002.
Hughes tells the story second-hand via Pat Miletich because he went back to the hotel room and was not involved in the incident (contrary to recent lore).
Here's the snip:
"So it's four o'clock in the morning and they had everybody leave the club, right? Well, the UFC had bussed us all over there but they didn't have a bus to take us back. It's down to Mark, me [Pat Miletich], Tony Fryklund, Chuck Liddell, Tito [Ortiz] and Lee Murray. Lee Murray's crew was still there, Tito's crew was also still there. I walked out the back door to go in the alley. Tito's buddy jumped on my back. He jumped on my back and acted like he had me in a choke hold, just messing around, you know? Then I felt him get ripped off of me. I turned around and Tony Fryklund had HIM in a chokehold, and was really choking him. The guy looked like a mouse that just got trapped in a mousetrap; his eyes were popping out and obviously he wasn't breathing. Tony thought he was actually attacking me – that's the only reason he did it. So I turned round and told Tony to let him go, and Tony let him go. Then Tito's buddy turned around and basically said ‘what the f*** are you doing?' to Tony. Well, when he said that, one of Lee Murray's buddies, that one guy who kind of took care of us all week long, thought this guy was actually trying to fight us, so he ran out of the crowd and cracked this kid with a right hand and knocked him out cold.... The entire alley erupted into a huge brawl. I was just standing there, and there were bodies flying all over the place. I was confused how it all happened, because it happened so fast. I was standing there with my mouth open like ‘what the hell is going on?' I looked over and Chuck Liddell was with his back against the wall, knocking people out that were trying to go after him. Then I looked over and there's Tito directly past me, taking his coat off, going after Lee Murray, and Lee Murray's backing up the alley taking his jacket off. Both their jackets come off, and Tito throws a left hook at Lee Murray and misses, and right as he missed, Lee Murray counters with, like, a five-punch combo, landed right on the chin, and knocked Tito out. OUT. Tito fell face-first down to the ground, and then Lee Murray stomped him on the face a couple of times with his boots."
I've heard this story told numerous times and none of them seem to be the same. This one is no different. Massive amounts of booze tend do that to a drunken herd of men.
To check out all of the excerpts from Matt Hughes' new book entitled, "Made in America: The Most Dominant Champion in UFC History" click here. It sounds so far like an entertaining read.
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