UFC: Can Matt Hughes fend off the Rush?

UFC: Can Matt Hughes fend off the Rush?

By Matthew DeGonzaque (Nov 8, 2006)

Matt Hughes is the UFC's welterweight division. He has been a factor in the division since his Octagon debut in 1999 and at this moment there is no other fighter that shines in the division more then he does.

Hughes (40-4) also has earned it every step of the way. He has more credibility than any other fighter in the division and possibly in all of Mixed Martial Arts as well. He has the record for successful championship defenses in not just the welterweight division but in the entire history of the UFC, five successful title defenses. Hughes has beaten every top contender that has opposed him in his division; Frank Trigg (13-5) twice, Sean Sherk (31-2-1), Renato Verissimo (5-4), Carlos Newton (13-10) twice, Hayato Sakurai (29-7-2), Joe Riggs (25-8) and most recently a revenge win over BJ Penn (10-4-1), the last man to defeat Hughes. Those wins, including his dominating win over MMA legend Royce Gracie in one of the most profitable shows in MMA history as well as his no nonsense approach to each fight have earned Hughes legions of fans and turned him into one of the biggest stars in MMA today. There isn't a 170lb fighter in the world who can come close to Matt Hughes' hold on the division.

Except for Hughes #1 contender and next opponent, Georges ‘Rush’ St. Pierre, that is.
St. Pierre (12-1) has established himself as one of the most popular and marketable fighters in the sport and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that St. Pierre is more popular than Hughes himself. He is a very charismatic and entertaining fighter. More importantly though, he has come to establish himself as one of the most dangerous fighters at 170lbs and after a string of

dominating victories, and has set his sights on taking Matt Hughes’ championship at UFC 65.

Hughes and St. Pierre aren’t strangers to one another. They've actually fought before, almost two years ago, at UFC 50. Back then, Hughes was coming off of a loss to Penn and a win over Verissimo and St. Pierre was a UFC rookie who was coming off of two impressive wins against Karo Parisyan (15-4) and Jay Hieron (10-2) earlier in the year. Then champ BJ Penn has just left the UFC over a contract dispute so both men where fighting for the vacant title.

It wasn't a great fight or very memorable, but it did show that the St. Pierre had the tools to hang with the elite. He was able to outmuscle Hughes in instances during the fight, including taking Hughes to the ground briefly and hold his own against Hughes in the striking department including a very hard spinning kick to the mid section that hurt Hughes and sent him flying into the cage. But as the round started to come to a close Hughes managed to take St. Pierre down and attempted to finish off the French Canadian. Hughes tried to lock on a Kimura; St. Pierre managed to successfully block the Kimura, but at the same time inadvertently allowed Hughes to pass his guard and enabled Hughes to lock on an armbar submission hold and St. Pierre tapped out at 4:59 into the first round. Hughes had regained his championship. But Georges St. Pierre had gained something else: legitimacy.

Since then both men have gone onto bigger things. Hughes has beaten everyone he has fought since then and become a top star thanks to his exposure as a coach on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. St. Pierre, since the loss to Hughes, has gone 4-0 with dominating performances over Frank Trigg and Sean Sherk, whom St. Pierre dominated and beat more convincingly than Hughes did, Jason Miller (17-4) and a close decision win over BJ Penn. St. Pierre has also enjoyed mainstream popularity thanks to his role of an advisor on The Ultimate Fighter season 4, which is currently airing on television.

There isn't a more pick 'em fight of the year for the UFC. Both men are well rounded fighters and have are at the top of their game. Georges St. Pierre has the advantage in speed and striking, while Hughes has the advantage in strength (St. Pierre is also very strong, but has more explosive power than Hughes) and the ground game. It's a question of who can implement their game plan better and who wants it more. For St. Pierre to win, His best chance would be to avoid going to the ground with Hughes (even though he is no slouch on the ground himself) and focus on using his speed to out strike Hughes. Hughes should avoid the stand up game with St. Pierre and should use his wrestling skills and power to keep the fight on the ground where he is at his best. If St. Pierre is going to win the fight, he would likely due it by early stoppage, but if Hughes was to win I think he would wear St. Pierre down and stop him in the later rounds or win a decision. The fight is so close and it’s really impossible for me to be confident in a prediction, but I have to lean just a little bit toward Matt Hughes retaining his title by a decision.

MMA quick hits

- Pride just had their first show in the US and so far it is getting very good reviews. I’d like to congratulate Pride on a good debut show and hope they can keep the trend going when they return to the US in February. Mixed martial arts can’t get enough good news right now and this only keeps the momentum going.

- Congrats also goes to Anderson Silva, who surpassed my wildest expectations and utterly dominated former 185lb UFC kingpin Rich Franklin at UFC 64. I never doubted Silva’s skills, but I never ever thought he would be able to dispose of Franklin so easily. Silva must have the deadliest Muay Thai clinch in MMA today. Rumor is that Zuffa is trying to re-sign Matt ‘The Law’ Lindland to take on Silva for the UFC middleweight championship. That would be a great fight for MMA fans and I think it would be very competitive. The only problem is: Will Zuffa be able to re-sign Lindland after firing him last year for wearing the wrong shirt at a weigh in?

- Was it me, or did Rich Franklin look very uncomfortable as he was coming down to the Octagon for his fight against Silva? He just didn’t look right during that entrance.

- The Strikeforce promotion just had their third MMA event. The show was headlined by Paul Buentello vs. Tank Abbott. This fight was 100% proof that Tank no longer belongs in the sport and has become a sideshow attraction to sell tickets. Abbott is a one dimensional striker living off his reputation for the early UFC days, he was put into a fight that was supposed to play into Tank’s strength of a stand up fight (most well rounded fighters these days take Abbott to the ground and submit him easily) but instead Abbott was knocked out 43 seconds into the first round. Buentello is a good striker, but he is hardly world class. This fight showed that Tank no longer has a place in meaningful fights in MMA and that he should consider a change of career (Toughman fights?)