Matt Hughes Interview - Need your questions
Matt has agreed to answer a few questions for an exlusive interview with LoveUFC.com. Ask your questions here.
Have 2 other fighters that need your questions, Stephan Bonnar and Rich Franklin
Inside the Octagon at UFC 60
LOS ANGELES — You can’t be a student of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and not idolize Royce Gracie, and you can’t be a fan of the UFC and not respect Matt Hughes.
That being said, I made the trip here on my own dime this past weekend to write about the man who gave birth to the UFC as he prepared to fight the man who is carrying the sport into the mainstream.
On Saturday the stars illuminated the Staples Center – and there were even some in the crowd as well. The Romans had the Colosseum, we have the Octagon.
As UFC trailblazer Royce Gracie walked toward the fenced-in fight zone, dressed in his standard Gracie Jiu-jitsu gi, his legendary family walked behind him and most of the 14,000 fans stood with him. Hughes, the two-time defending welterweight champion, made his way to his corner as the crowd displayed their mixed feelings toward the undisputed champ.
Minutes into the bout, the younger Hughes showed himself to be the stronger and faster fighter than the 39-year-old three-time UFC champion Gracie. Hughes, 32, took the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt to the ground and unleashed a torrent of punches to his head, earning him a TKO victory in the first round.
What the fans felt in their hearts was a lot different than what was going on in their heads. The nostalgic man picked Gracie, but the betting man had Hughes.
Light heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell was making his rounds through the joint when I asked him for the low-down.
“Hey Chuck,” I said. “Who you got tonight?”
“Hughes,” he shot back with the speed and accuracy of one of his right hooks.
Former champ Tito Ortiz, in his pinstriped suit, smiled for cameras and looked like Hollywood’s next movie star in the same city where they are born.
“Tito…Joe Fernandez, Newsday.com, what’s up, guy?”
Ortiz stopped in his tracks to shake my hand like he knew me.
“What’s up, Joe,” the charismatic Ortiz said.
“What’s your prediction,” I asked.
“Third round, Hughes,” he said as he continued with his entourage.
Just then, Ortiz turned away from the cameras and his following, and came back to this Long Island kid’s table and whispered to me: “You know what, referee stoppage, third round.”
Right call, wrong round. Sorry, Tito, but I appreciate your honesty.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was rocking a leather jacket and sitting next to Oscar nominee Michael Clarke Duncan.
“Mr. Johnson,” I said. (I was being respectful.) “Who’s your pick?”
“For the main event? It comes down to who makes the first mistake.”
I turned to Mr. Duncan, introduced myself and asked him the question.
“Gracie all the way,” he said. “I take jiu-jitsu, so I got to go with Gracie.”
I showed the “Green Mile” star my Kioto Brazilian jiu-jitsu t-shirt and his face lit up.
After chatting up some celebrities and talking with some fans, it occurred to me that UFC followers truly know and care for their sport. The fans and celebrities rattled off some mixed martial arts jargon like: “Hughes needs to stay out of the triangle [choke], and “Gracie has to stay away from Hughes’ ground-and-pound.”
The knowledge of the UFC fan and the talent of the men inside the Octagon has followed the same ascension. Whether Matt Hughes likes it or not, a big reason why he won that match was because he is a disciple of the very style he was defending against. In the first UFC, it pitted style vs. style and had its contenders face a handful of opponents in the same night. Gracie was much smaller and weaker than the man across the ring, but he possessed the technique and skill to make the toughest warriors scream “tap” like they were ordering a draft beer in a noisy bar.
A successful mixed martial arts fighter having a jiu-jitsu background is as important as starting pitching to a championship baseball team, but there has to be more.
“Today it’s not the style, it’s the athlete,” Gracie said to me last week.
Fighters are working boxing and Muay Thai for their stand-up game and wrestling and jiu-jitsu for their grappling. Today, not one discipline reigns supreme.
Yes, Matt Hughes is younger, but with a solid stand up, ground-shattering slams and tremendous grappling skills, he was more prepared than those legions of men that Gracie subdued in his heyday. UFC fans can never forget what Royce Gracie did for this sport. He sent a bewildered bunch of brawlers back to the drawing board to figure out how to beat a 175-pound man wearing a gi. He fought wars and laid out the strategy for future generations. He sent a bunch of fighters in search of an answer. He sent a bunch of fighters in search of mixed martial arts.
Anderson Silva vs. Chris Leben Confirmed
Mmaweekly.com posted an article last week confirming rumors that Anderson “The Spider” Silva will make his Octagon debut against TUF1 heavy hitter Chris “The Crippler” Leben at Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28th.
Along Came “The Spider”
Reigning from Curitba, Brazil, the 31-year-old Silva signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC just last month. Since launching his professional mma career back in May of 2000, Silva has racked up a 15-4 record with notable wins over Jeremy Horn and Carlos Newton. Anderson’s last fight was at Cage Rage 16 on April 22, where he KO’d UFC veteran Tony Fryklund in the very first round.
Silva’s world class Muay Thai and BJJ skills should make a nice addition to the already stacked middleweight division.
Exclusive: Need questions to ask Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin UFC Champion
Like with Stephan Bonnar’s interview (Still need more questions), we need questions to ask the Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. Post your questions in the LoveUFC.com forum.
Rich Franklin’s Question Thread
Stephan Bonnar’s Question Thread
UFC 61 Officially Labeled “Bitter Rivals”
It’s a fitting name, to say the least. Heavyweight superstars Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia and Andrei “Pit Bull” Arlovski will attempt to set the record straight on July 8 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. This will be the third and probably final meeting (at least for a year or two) between these two great warriors. In their first showdown back at UFC 51 (2/5/05), Arlovski submitted “The Maine-iac” with an ankle lock to capture the “Interim” Heavyweight Championship. Sylvia got his revenge at UFC 59 when he TKO’d Arlovski at 2:43 of the first.
The featured undercard bout of the evening might be more anticipated than the headliner. Arch rivals and TUF3 coaches Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock will try and settle the score once and for all. Their feud stems back to UFC 19 (3/5/99), when Tito defeated Lion’s Den fighter Guy Mezger. After the fight, Tito wore a shirt that read “Gay Mezger is my bitch.” Shamrock got in Tito’s face about it, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In other action, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson is set to battle Yves Edwards in a lightweight (155 lbs) contest. Joe is coming off an upset loss to Josh Neer at Ultimate Fight Night (4/6/06). We last saw Yves at UFC 58 when he suffered defeat at the hands of Mark “The Machine” Hominick.
Many other rumors are floating around, including Frank Mir vs. Dan Christison and Jeff “The Snowman” Monson against an opponent to be announced
What do you think of UFC 61 have your say in the forums here
The Ultimate Fighter Finale 3 Fighter Fixtures on 5th June
If you work the night shift like I do, you might wanna talk to your boss about booking off a few evenings in June. That’s because the UFC is giving us all we can handle with The Ultimate Fighter 3 finale on the 24th followed by Ultimate Fight Night 5 on the 28th. Both events will air live on Spike TV from the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
The TUF3 finale will be headlined by TUF1 finalist Kenny “KenFlo” Florian taking on deadly Canadian striker Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout. Other reputed matchups include Keith Jardine vs. Wilson Gouveia and Josh Neer vs. an opponent to be announced. And of course, there’ll be the middleweight and light heavyweight finals to determine who’ll receive a six figure contract with the UFC.
But if that isn’t enough mma to satisfy your twisted needs (mine are insatiable), only 4 days later we’ll have Ultimate Fight Night 5. Rumors are flying all over the internet about this one. It looks like the main event will feature Chris “The Crippler” Leben butting heads with UFC newcomer Anderson “The Spider” Silva. The Spider is currently ranked #4 in the world among middleweights on mmaweekly.com’s Top Ten List. Personally, I’m super stoked to see my fellow Canuck Mark “The Machine” Hominick go to war with Jorge Gurgel. Also rumored to be on the card:
Stephan Bonnar vs. Rashad Evans
Josh Koscheck vs. Dave Menne
Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves
Luke Cummo vs. Jonathan Goulet
Jason Lambert vs. Brandon Lee Hinkle
Talk about this in our forums here.
Royce Gracie: “I have two more fights left in me”
At the Staples Center in Los Angles Saturday night, Royce Gracie tasted defeat as he came back from an extended UFC absence and lost his comeback fight to Matt Hughes. Hughes had Gracie on his stomach as he punched to the backside of Gracie’s head leaving referee John McCarthy no choice but to halt the fight with less than a minute to go in the first round.
“I have two more fights left in me,” Gracie said to the Press after the fight. Gracie wearing sun glasses added, “It felt good to know that I still have a lot of fans over here in America.”
In regards to why he lost, Gracie had this to say: “In this game, anything can happen. I have a strategy, he has a strategy. It’s a matter of who pulls who out of his strategy.”
UFC 61 Tickets Go On Sale Sunday at 10am PT
Tickets for UFC 61 – Bitter Rivals, which will be held on Saturday, July 8 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, will go on sale on Sunday, May 28 at 10am PT / 1pm ET at all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Featured on the card will be the concluding chapter of the trilogy between UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and former champion Andrei Arlovski, and the long awaited rematch between arch-enemies Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock.
The UFC is also pleased to announce that for this event it will be presenting ‘The Ultimate Seating Auction’. This two-week auction will provide UFC fans with the opportunity to bid on 62 tickets which will be located in the first six rows of the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get closer to the action than you’ve ever been before. For more details, visit http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/ve3dml
Hughes Smashes and Outclasses Gracie
The MMA world has been abuzz since the fight was announced in January of 2006, and hours of debate have been ignited. Could Royce Gracie, the man who once dominated the UFC in the early to mid ‘90s, in such overwhelming fashion, compete in the UFC of 2006, against the most dominate welterweight of our time?
The wait was over and all the questions were answered in brutal fashion Saturday night in Los Angeles at the Staples Center when, in the main event of UFC 60, UFC world welterweight champion Matt Hughes scored a first round TKO over Royce Gracie at 4:39 of the opening round.
As the pre-fight electricity fizzled into anxious anticipation, both Hughes and Gracie appeared composed as they took to the center of the Octagon. Though Gracie had an apparent height advantage, Hughes quickly erased that factor by clinching Gracie and driving him into the Octagon wall. Following a brief struggle for control, Hughes scored a trademark takedown, putting Gracie on his back allowing Hughes to take side control.
Remaining under control, Hughes began to secure a kimura shoulder lock. Despite his arm being wrenched back horribly, Gracie proved his worth by escaping the hold. Hughes, displaying what could become known as the visible difference between 1993 and 2006, quickly took the back of his opponent and pounded the legendary Gracie mercilessly with no answer until referee “Big� John McCarthy halted the contest at 4:39 of round one.
UFC 60 Hughes vs. Gracie Fight Results
Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie: Hughes wins by TKO (Strikes) at 4:39, 1st round
Bandon Vera vs. Assuerio Silva: Vera wins by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:39, 1st round
Mike Swick vs. Joe Riggs: Swick wins by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:19, 1st round
Diego Sanchez vs. John Alessio: Sanchez wins by Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00, 3rd round
Melvin Guillard vs. Rick Davis: Guillard wins by KO (Punch) at 1:37, 1st round
Spencer Fisher vs. Matt Wiman: Fisher wins by KO (Flying Knee) at 1:43, 2nd round
Dean Lister vs. Alessio Sakara: Lister wins by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 2:20, 1st round
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabiano Scherner: Gonzaga wins by TKO (Strikes) at 0:24, 2nd round
Jeremy Horn vs. Chael Sonnen: Horn wins by Submission (Armbar) at 1:17, 2nd round
