Hughes wants to prove his time hasn’t passed

[Gr8_White_Rabbit]

Hughes wants to prove his time hasn’t passed
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
1 hour, 10 minutes ago

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One of the classic symptoms of an aged, or aging, fighter is seeing openings and being unable to take advantage of them.

It’s no different than a running back who once could burst through a hole for a 15-yard gain when he ran a 4.4 40, but who now runs a 4.65 and can’t hit it quick enough to get more than three yards before the pile collapses upon him.

And what Matt Hughes was describing as a problem in his loss to Georges St. Pierre in December sounded suspiciously like a man losing the battle with time.

But the two-time former UFC welterweight champion, who saved the UFC yet again when he agreed on short notice to fight Thiago Alves in the main event of UFC 85 in London on June 7, insists he’s far from through.

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He’s lost two of three and was dominated in the defeat to St. Pierre at UFC 79 on Dec. 29, but he is undaunted. Hughes plans to make a point with his performance against the fast-rising Alves, who is coming off an impressive stoppage of Karo Parisyan.

Hughes, 34, has been one of the sport’s most active stars. He’s awaiting a grudge match against long-time rival Matt Serra and didn’t need to fight in London. But when the card in England was in danger of falling apart because of injuries, Hughes answered the call.

“I’m a fighter and that’s what I’m supposed to do, fight,” said Hughes, who is remarkably free of the ego and demanding persona that define superstars in most sports. “They called me and needed me to fight. This is what I do, so of course I said yes.”

UFC president Dana White had long wanted to make UFC 85 a blockbuster card. And with the original main event of Chuck Liddell vs. Shogun Rua, it would have been regardless of what other fights were added.

It lost a little bit of its luster when Rua was injured, but Liddell is a big enough star that the replacement main event with Rashad Evans would not have impacted sales much, if at all.

But when Liddell suffered a badly torn hamstring last month, what had been a Liddell-Rua main event suddenly looked as if it might become an Evans-James Irvin main. And that was nobody’s idea of a bout that could carry a card.

That prompted White to get on the phone and plead with Hughes to save him again. And, just like he did a few days after Thanksgiving, Hughes saved the UFC again. When Serra injured his back in November, Hughes quickly agreed to face St. Pierre instead, saving the card. And now, with the Liddell-Rua bout off and the UFC 85 card in jeopardy, Hughes agreed to take the bout with Alves with the stipulation that he get Serra later in the year, win or lose against Alves.

It didn’t hurt, though, that Hughes perceives the fight as one he can win. Alves hasn’t lost since being stopped by Jon Fitch at Ultimate Fight Night 5 nearly two years ago and has quality wins since over Parisyan, Chris Lytle and John Alessio.

But Hughes, whose only losses in the last seven years are to St. Pierre twice and to B.J. Penn, sees this as a fight he can win impressively.

“To be honest, I like the matchup,” Hughes said. “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.”

It was Hughes, though, who never got going in the main event at UFC 79. St. Pierre dominated from the opening punch in a bout that many have seen, not without some justification, as a changing of the guard in the UFC’s pecking order.

Hughes had difficulty explaining what happened other than he couldn’t take advantage of openings he saw.

“I got into a couple of positions I wanted to be in and I didn’t pull the trigger,” Hughes said. “Walking away from the octagon that night, I said to myself, ‘That wasn’t me.’

“Obviously, Georges is a tremendous fighter, but I had a real bad night at the same time he had a real good night. When that happens, you saw what the result can be. But I did get into some good positions and I saw some things, but I couldn’t do what I knew I needed to do.”

Hughes said he’s doing more drilling in his training. He’s trying to avoid getting too relaxed and is working on technique at a very basic level.

He points out he’s much younger than other high-level fighters like Liddell and erstwhile UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture, so he doesn’t think age or time has caught up with him yet.

“They can still do it, so there’s no reason why I can’t,” Hughes said. “I’ve pulled out some of the old Matt Hughes tapes and I’m trying to get back to being that fighter.”

And while he wouldn’t flat say it, don’t be surprised if Hughes pushes for a fourth fight with St. Pierre if he’s successful in his bouts against Alves and Serra.

The competitor in Hughes won’t let him believe he’s fallen that far behind St. Pierre, who is No. 2 in the Yahoo! Sports rankings. But he’s got too much business in front of him to think that far down the road. Hughes needs to defeat the rising Alves to make the point that he’s still a factor in one of the UFC’s most stacked divisions.

“I feel like I have a lot of good fights still left and I’m excited about it,” Hughes said. “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.”

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Hughes is still top 10 in my opinion.

[BigBanda]

Hughes is easily top 10 and still even easily top 5 IMO. People are judging him too much just off his fights with GSP. GSP has his number big time but Serra just got manhandled also. As long as that last loss to GSP does not affect him mentally then Hughes is still a threat in the WW division. I dont see him beating GSP but I think Hughes has it in him to beat anyone else in the WW division. Can he?? Only time will tell and I think we will know more after his next fight against Thiago. To write Hughes off simply because that loss to GSP would be stupid

[thecoylewis]

With the exception of GSP, there's not a soul at 170 that could beat Matt Hughes. GSP made him look old but GSP is turning that curve into his prime while Hughes is nearing the end of his. You put Hughes against Koscheck, Swick, Davis, Karo, Diego, and he schools them. GSP is just to skilled and well rounded for Hughes at this stage of his career. I hope he beats Alves, then Serra, then retires. I would love to see his storied career end with him winning, rather than losing another to GSP.

[carbondioxide830]

hell yea! war hughes! i call hughes by ref stoppage due to gnp in the second! serra will be lucky to last a round with hughes. then i say have hughes fight either diego or kos and if he dominates them, why not give him gsp a fourth time?

[captonion]

I'm glad that Hughes is gonna plug on.I think he is very easily in the top 10,and has alot of wins left in him.I just think GSP has his # just like Liddell has Ortiz's,but who knows?

[thecoylewis]

Originally Posted by captonion

I just think GSP has his # just like Liddell has Ortiz's,but who knows?

I agree whole heartedly. There are those matchups in a fighter's career that he just can't get a grasp on. Chuck over Tito, Tito over Shamrock, Rampage over Chuck. Matchups make the fight. It doesn't make the other guy any less of a fighter.

[Dan0]

As much as I dislike him I gotta respect him.

(that interview was not to bad - okay now I did.)

[POINDEXTER]

I think Hughes has lost a step and I think he has lost some of the drive and confidence mentally as well. The match-up with Alves will either verify this or prove me wrong. However it ends up, a hope it is a long bloody war.

[ninjastix]

Originally Posted by captonion

I'm glad that Hughes is gonna plug on.I think he is very easily in the top 10,and has alot of wins left in him.I just think GSP has his # just like Liddell has Ortiz's,but who knows?

It's a little more than having his number. Hughes was pretty much outclassed by GSP and BJ in those fights. That's not to say that Hughes didn't have a bad night or that he's not still very dangerous. He is.

It'll be interesting to see how he bounces back, It's hard for me to root for Hughes, I can't stand his attitude... but there's not denying he's still a solid fighter, a great wrestler, and dominant ex champion.

I hope it's a good one...

[Caesar]

Did the author of this article say that Hughes was, "Remarkably free of the ego and demanding persona that define superstars in most sports."

Who are we talking about? No hate to Hughes, he is okay in my mind but I think we all know he has something of an ego problem.

Whatever. I actually hope he wins. He's a legend and he deserves it.