Matt Hughes
Two-time welterweight king built on slams and pressure
- Born
- October 13, 1973, Hillsboro, Illinois, US
- Nationality
United States- Height
- 175 cm (5′9″)
- Reach
- 185 cm (6′1″)
- Stance
- Switch
- Style
- Power wrestler
- Weight
- Welterweight
- Active
- 1998–2011
- Status
- Retired · age 53
The record
Professional MMA. record
The story
att Hughes was a two-time Illinois high school state champion and an NCAA Division I All-American at Eastern Illinois before he turned to MMA in 1998. He won the UFC welterweight title in 2001 by slamming Carlos Newton unconscious, lost it to B.J. Penn in 2004, and won it back later that year by armbar against Georges St-Pierre. Across the two reigns he made seven successful defenses and beat Frank Trigg, Royce Gracie and Penn along the way. Strong and relentless, he took opponents down, settled into mount or side control and struck from there. Because he beat so many jiu-jitsu specialists, fans called him the Gracie Killer, though he never used a nickname himself. He finished 45-9, entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2010 and retired in 2011.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- UFC welterweight champion (2 reigns, 7 successful defenses)
- UFC Hall of Fame (2010)
- NJCAA Hall of Fame
Defining fights
- 2001WINvs Carlos Newton (slam KO R2, won UFC welterweight title)
- 2004LOSSvs B.J. Penn (rear-naked choke R1, lost title)
- 2004WINvs Georges St-Pierre (armbar R1, regained title)
- 2006WINvs Royce Gracie (TKO R1)
- 2006WINvs B.J. Penn (TKO R3)
Pin a wrist, settle into side control or mount, and strike only when the opponent is flat and stuck. Wrestlers moving into MMA can drill mat returns into side control, then ground-and-pound from mount while controlling the far arm.
