Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie Possible For UFC 109
Another bout has been rumored for UFC 109 which is scheduled for February 6, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. A match up featuring former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes against veteran MMA fighter Renzo Gracie. According to a report from Heavy.com both fighters have been approached about the contest, but no contracts have been signed.
Matt Hughes was last in action defeating fellow former champion Matt Serra via unanimous decision last May at UFC 98. The win over Serra ended a two fight losing streak which saw Hughes lose to Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves, respectively. Hughes has a career MMA record of 43 wins and 7 losses, however he has only managed to go 2-3 since losing the welterweight title to St. Pierre in November 2006.
Gracie was last in action in a February 2007 disqualification victory over Frank Shamrock. In his MMA career Gracie has managed a record of 13 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw. He has defeated opponents such as Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton, as well as suffered defeats to notables BJ Penn, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Dan Henderson.
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Tags: Matt Hughes, Renzo Gracie
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wow big fight i hope it happens
i thought Matt retired …. in any case its an easy win for Matt IMHO
No i think matt just signed a six year contract???
Good fight, nothing good but a pat on your back for winning… sounds like it woukd fit in at 106.
I see the UFC using Hughes’ name and the Gracie name to try and make this a nondeserving co main event kinda thing. Sorry, but I’m not excited about this at all. Wow, and we get to see matt Serra on the same card. I’m overwhelmed with sarcasm
If Hughes wins that will be win #17 in the UFC giving him the record for the most wins in the UFC. He also currently have the most title defenses at 7 (5 during his first reign, 2 during his second) Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz are in second with 5 title defenses. Another record is Anderson Silva has the record for the most consecutive wins at 10 (in the UFC).
Renzo will destroy him.
wow Renzo seriously…. That guys is like def over 40 years old. I seriously don’t think anyone cares about this freakin match. I hope its on the flippin undercard hahaha LOL
Renzo is 42.
I remember watching him fight in the WCC tourney . They kept plugging him as the next big Gracie guy . He is a fantastic coach obviously having those guys on his resume , but I just dont see him being able to beat hughes . If this was a NHB bout then I’d give Renzo the nod but its not …so……..
Hmmmm. At first I was thinking “WTF???”, then it sort of made sense to me. Hughes essentially retired Royce (though Royce had a controversial win against Sakuraba to end his career), and now this give Royce a chance at revenge. Nice storyline, something missing from MMA in a while. Hughes wins, he’s the new Gracie-killer, a la Sakuraba (who beat 4 different Gracies). Plus Renzo’s never fought in the UFC, and having another Gracie won’t hurt to see tickets to the old school fans who fell off the wagon.
The fight itself could be interesting. Renzo’s still very active at his gym from what I’ve heard and still trains hard. Although Hughes showed what can happen when BJJ meets world-class wrestling, Royce is smaller than Renzo. If this is a catchweight figh or 185t, I could see trouble for Hughes. At 170, I see trouble for Renzo.
Wow i am surprised at how peeps worry about stupid **** they have no reason to worry about! Like whiteboy saying its the ufc using some peeps name for a co main event, Dude, who cares if it is a card that you want to see, who cares what ufc agenda is. Either you like it or not, why are you worried about that kind of stuff!
Idiots!!No personal attacks. – Justin H
He means the ufc is gonna use their names and try to hype it up like a serious contenders match… When both of these guys are way past their prime! I wouldnt mind seeing this fight just not as a main or co main event!
This is a lot more in line with the sorts of fights that Matt Hughes is looking to wind down his career with, and not some pointless throwdown with one of the kids over at AKA looking to earn some cheap cred by beating a past-his-fighting-prime legend.
This should be a good fight in the UFC “masters” division, which I see Hughes winning by ref stoppage…
good point. I’m sure he wants to fight guys who are considered “legends” of the sport now. He doesn’t want to lose to some up and commers and tarnish his legacy.
As a fan I just never connected with the whole Matt Hughes thing. Granted, the guy’s a legend in the sport and his record speaks for itself but I never look forward to watching him fight nor will I look forward to this fight proposal either.
It still doesn’t sit well with me about the manor of his victory against Matt Serra last time out………..
There are some of us who still believe Serra won that fight…
ANYWAY, if we see the Hughes that slams opponents and goes for great submissions that would be awesome….
If we see the Hughes who just lies on top in his opponent’s guard the whole fight…not so awesome.
I would of preferred to see Hughes fight one of the AKA guys, someone who’s a bit more relevant in the division.
I second jpmm’s post
Hughes would be stupid to take a fight against the AKA boys. I don’t think he’s interested at making a run at the title anymore. The boys at AKA should fight eachother, i’m sure Dana would reward the winner with a title shot but they are too in love with eachother to throwdown I guess.
Also I like this fight and wish that the UFC would do fights like this more often. For instance I would watch a hughes vs. newton match again. Also a Lidell vs. Coleman fight would peak my intrest as well. However I don’t think they should be co-mains, just on the main card.
What about Hughes v. Hallman?
Ironic Hughes won’t fight the AKA guys because he says they are looking for a cheap win over an older guy, yet Hughes is completely comfortable doing the exact same thing by padding his record with wins over retired fighters like Royce and Renzo. Why doesn’t Hughes at least fight someone who is actively training and fighting? If this fight is scheduled, Hughes should immediately be pulled from all top 10 lists because he is no longer relevant.
Double standard, yes. Ironic, no.
I can see where you might think the Hughes situation is ironic, or as Justin H more accurately put it, a double standard, but consider:
Matt Hughes is a legend in this sport, and has earned the right to wind down his career as he sees fit. He’s accomplished about as much as a man can in MMA, and is rightfully called by Dana White the “most dominating WW of all time[s]“.
If any of you think otherwise, try Googling the man’s accomplishments and record in FIFTY fights before posting in response.
Maybe if even one of the guys over at AKA, with Jon Fitch being the most likely candidate, accomplishes HALF of what Matt Hughes has to date, THEN and only then do they both earn the right and command the respect to ASK [not whine] for their own matches to be made, and only in so far that they [or Hughes] will not try to swerve the title picture and adversely effect the career path of ranked contenders.
I would not support Hughes if he were trying to de facto match-make if the title were even peripherally involved, but Hughes has repeatedly stated the he’s currently fighting for his love of the sport, to close out unfinished business, which Royce Gracie was and now Renzo Gracie and Dennis Hallman look to be, and yes to make some bank before finally retiring to his Hillsborough farm, which IMO there is nothing wrong with.
Lets not forget exactly who the He11 Matt Hughes is, before holding him to the “lower standard” for fighters like Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick…
Exactly, although i’m pretty sure superman has a contract with strikeforce. I love these kinds of former champ vs. former champ. I think thats why I enjoyed Affliction so much. They should have legend fights every second card just so the guys who arn’t in contendership but are still big draws and fun to watch can stay active.
I’m pretty sure Superman is fighting at the TUF 10 Finale.
what abot hughs vs parisian that fight should have happened by now .
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think Parisyan still entertains hope of some sort of title run, so a fight with Matt Hughes doesn’t really fill the bill.
He should maybe call out someone like Rumble Johnson, or someone over at AKA, or even sign a rematch fight with Chris Lytle or Thiago Alves.
Anything, really, to get him back on the championship radar would help. Beating an aging legend like Hughes would not, and if Karo lost, which isn’t an impossibility, he might as well ring up Scott Coker from his cel in the locker room after the fight and ask him to fax over a job application to his house…
Karo needs a fight he can win, but then to actually take the fight seriously. He’s too arrogant for his own good, not to mention his other mental issues.
Subjectively I agree that for all intents and purposes Karo Parisyan is done competing meaningfully in the UFC, and should work to sign as many easy fights as he can, just to score a “W”. His attitude $ucks out loud, his skillset is narrow and only marignally effective in the cage, and the general opinion is that he has burned too many bridges both with the UFC front office and the fanbase to make any sort of relevent contribution to the UFC moving forward.
Objectively I was just trying to suss out some sort of plan by which Parisyan could regain some of that lost cred, and maybe catch a little traction at 170.
Fighting Matt Hughes makes him look like more of a b!tch than many already consider him to be, and considering his laid-back approach to training, a loss to Hughes is fairly likely. IMO stepping up and asking for a tough 170er, training hard, and showing up to compete, at least on the surface makes it appear that Parisyan is serious about an MMA comeback.
Asking for an easy opponent might get him a short term win, but he’ll lose out in the longterm…
Look at that, good lookin’ justin.
I just assumed that since his last fight was at a strikeforce challengers event and he won they would still have him under contract since most promotions don’t give 1 fight deals. I love that fight though, let Hughes avenge his loss from 1998 against another savvy veteran such as superman.
Strikeforce does one fight deals, and non-exclusive deals. UFC is really one of the few promotions that don’t do one fight deals.
I would bet as the business of MMA evolves, much as the sport has, we’ll be seeing less and less of those one-fight and/or non-exclusive deals offered.
After all, the UFC has muscled its way to the top of the MMA org food chain doing business a certain way, and anyone hoping to recreate even a fraction of their success would be conventionally unwise not to do the same…
I agree that using longer term contracts is a great way to cement your org from the owners view for sure . Its the fighters who can suffer from these deals , having to fight 5 fights for one company can also get you lost in the shuffle . It’s like the Machida/Rua situation … Rua wasnt given a shot at winning by most , people said there were others deserving of a shot ,Rua goes on to win (in my mind ) therefore setting up the rematch in 5-6 months time . What does that leave the other dudes who were on a roll ? A year in there careers where they are left without their deserved bouts at a belt . Then they start to pile up in line and are forced now to take other fights which can potentially derail things ….. and you can’t do anything about it .
Not saying this happens every time , but it can put a stick in the spokes .
Hmmm…I kind of feel like the ufc really wants matt to do well.This is perfect.I know i’m interested in seeing this.And dana white’s always been a big fan of huges.So you get a interesting fight,and it’s a good chance for matt to get (i think) an easy win.Don’t know if i said what i meant but it makes sense to me.
REAL BIG FIGHT- So Pumped,hope it happens