When I saw that Matt Hughes had retired I felt many emotions.
I felt old, upset, sad and happy. I started watching UFC and MMA when I was 10
years old back in 1996. I went to a friend’s house and his mom dropped us off
at a video rental store and I rented UFC 1 on VHS. I already liked boxing and amateur
wrestling and to see the combination of the two was surreal and blew my mind. Then
I saw a small man named Royce Gracie totally dominate all of these behemoths
and made it look easy. That is when I started to love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as
well.
At first I was more in love with the sport as a whole. I
liked some fighters like Vitor Belfort and Randy Couture but never had a “favorite
fighter”. I grew up a Buffalo Bills fan (still am one) and had a favorite
player in Jim Kelly. I have been a Yankees fan all my life and Paul O’Neill was
my guy. But I never had that same connection with a fighter until I saw Matt
Hughes fight at UFC 34: High Voltage back in 2001. I saw Hughes fight a few
times before on earlier UFC cards but never noticed him too much. This fight left
me stunned. He was a normal smaller regular guy like me. I saw myself in him. I
am also a relaxed nice religious kid and was astonished at what this “ordinary”
man could do. He was fighting Carlos Newton for the UFC Welterweight
Championship and Hughes was the challenger. Newton had looked phenomenal going
into this fight so I thought he would submit Hughes like he did with Hughes’
coach Pat Miletich when he won the title. I was wrong. Hughes came in and
literally threw Newton around the cage. The fight ended when Matt picked Newton
up in a power-bomb formation and slammed Newton down so hard he was completely
knocked out. I had never seen anything like that in my life. I couldn’t believe
anyone his size had the strength to do that.
Going into that fight was a very strange time in my life.
The attacks on September 11th had just happened and living right
outside a major city (Chicago) made me and everyone else feel uncomfortable. There
were so many talks about possible attacks on the Sears tower and other areas. I
was constantly worried because my dad worked downtown everyday and it was just a
dark time. Watching Hughes took my mind off of that tragedy. I had a new hero.
I became hooked and started following his career like white on rice. One of my
greatest experiences I ever had was when I was wrestling in high school and
made it to the State Finals. It was held at Eastern Illinois University; the
same college Matt Hughes attended. I got to wrestle on the same mats Matt
Hughes wrestled on throughout his days. That was incredible and I will never
forget it.
His career became a great one to follow because he finished
almost everyone he fought. He put on exciting fights and was a great ambassador
for the sport. He used his wrestling, ground and pound and submission skills to
easily handle everyone. Then he lost to BJ Penn back at UFC 46 and I was devastated.
But that loss gave me a chance to see the true heart of a champion when he made
his way back to being champion and then defended it multiple times. Especially
in his second fight against Frank Trigg. Trigg kneed Hughes in the groin and
the ref made a move to pause the fight but then retracted and Hughes was almost
knocked out but somehow came back and choked out Trigg and this all happened in
just the 1st round.
Then the UFC announced the fight between Hughes and Royce
Gracie. I had to pinch myself to make sure I was awake. I had dreamt of this
fight. I had hypothetically talked about it for years. Who would win? It would
answer which martial art is superior: wrestling or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? When
the fight happened at UFC 60 I honestly thought it would be a close technical grappling
match. But instead Hughes absolutely destroyed Gracie and brutally TKO’d him in
the 1st round. I was so stunned by the fight that my reaction was
delayed. I literally could not believe what I just saw.
Then he had his rematch with B.J. Penn. I was so scared for
this fight and had good reason to be. In the early going Hughes was caught in a
tight triangle but somehow survived and eventually the round ended. Hughes went
on to dominate Penn and eventually got the stoppage when he trapped Penn in a
crucifix position and rained down punches until the ref had seen enough. I
watched the fight from the back corner of the room with my hand of my eyes. I
yelled so loud in elation that I lost my voice.
Hughes went on to have a few loses and then a short resurgence
in his career. But lost his last two fights to Penn and Koscheck both by KO in
the 1st round. That is the only reason I am happy about Hughes
retiring. I don’t want him to have brain issues later in life because he took
too much damage at the end of his career.
Hughes is now going to be working for the UFC as Vice
President of Athlete Development and Government Relations. This is a perfect
role for Hughes and I am so glad he will still be involved with the sport.
I only wish he went through his prime now so that everyone
could appreciate him the way he should be appreciated. The main part of Hughes’
career was already complete by the time the UFC hit it big. I am so glad I was
able to witness his career as it happened. Matt Hughes will forever by my
favorite fighter and a personal hero of mine.
Congrats Matt on a wonderful career.
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