Six Fights Matt Hughes Must Have Before Retiring

mepersoner · 01-18-2008, 04:09 PM

Recently there has been much speculation about when Matt Hughes will retire. He himself has said that he doesn't have many fights left in him. Before he retires, there are six still intriguing match-ups for him, here they are with the order they should be fought in and what it means to each fighter in the fight.

#6 - Dennis Hallman at 170

The only other person besides GSP to hold two wins over Matt Hughes, only without that one loss. Although Dennis Hallman is now a mid-level fighter at 185 and is not currently with the UFC, this match-up would still hold importance to Matt Hughes and his fans. Dennis Hallman has two first round submission victories over Hughes and that alone would probably be reason enough for Hughes to take this fight. A win for Hallman would immediately put him in the top of the UFC welterweight division, and would be a great return for him to the UFC and the 170 pound division.

#5 - Karo Parisyan at 170

The fight that never happened and should have. Parisyan has been been beating tough competition for years now, looking for that title shot. Unfortunately for him GSP, who soundly beat him in their last fight, is now the 170 pound champion - and he's better. A win against Karo for Hughes would prove that he's still a contender, and that he may still have one last chance at the 170 pound title. A win for Karo would mean he's not going away anytime soon.

#4 - Matt Serra at 170

An entire season between these two Tuf coaches with a title shot at the end... and it doesn't happen? These two hate each other and besides both being fighters are nearly polar opposites. This fight has to happen, the battle of the Matts.

#3 - BJ Penn at 170

Matt's arch-rival before GSP showed up. Penn is currently 1-1 with Hughes with their first fight making Hughes look like an amatuer. The second fight was an uninspired win with a question mark over its head, did Hughes only win because Penn injured himself, was it a fluke? This trilogy needs to be finished after Hughes has beaten a few 170 pounders and Penn has defended his 155 pound title a few times.

#2 - GSP at 170

Most people's immediate reactions to this will be that it should not happen. I would almost agree, except after GSP runs through contender after contender there's going to have to be some rematches. If GSP beats Serra, this will be another title shot for Hughes, well deserved if he beats Hallman, Parisyan, Serra and Penn. If Serra beats GSP, then it will be a title shot that GSP will probably have worked his way back up to after Hughes beat Serra for the title. If Hughes manages to win this fight he will cement himself as not just the most accomplished WW of all time, but the best. It will be time to move onto to bigger and better things. If GSP were to win again, it'd just prove what is already known, Matt Hughes has no answer for GSP.

#1 Anderson Silva at 185 pounds

Before Anderson Silva dismantled Rich Franklin for the first time and began his reign of terror above the 185 pound division, Matt Hughes said if Silva beat Franklin he'd move up to 185 to fight him. He didn't. If Hughes can pull off the five fights before this, there's no reason he can't move up to 185 and go straight for the belt before retiring. Hughes needs to put his money where his mouth is and Silva is happy to fight whoever is put in front of him.

T-Bone · 01-18-2008, 04:19 PM

I wonder what his contract states...how many more fights?

He's not gonna fight GSP and he's not gonna fight A.Silva but maybe some of the others will take place.

Saskabush · 01-18-2008, 04:21 PM

They make sense for sure but I can't see a few of them happening.

Did you come up with this or did you pull it from somewhere else?

uncle_leo · 01-18-2008, 04:21 PM

I think the only one he MUST have is against Matt Serra.
I would enjoy seeing him face Karo or BJ.
I don't think any of the other ones will happen. Matt would have to have a serious winning streak to ever fight Silva ( I think he would be KO'd).

mepersoner · 01-18-2008, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saskabush

They make sense for sure but I can't see a few of them happening.

Did you come up with this or did you pull it from somewhere else?

I came up with it. I considered adding Pele to the list just because he's the only other guy who has beaten Hughes who isn't on the list, but figured it'd be the least interesting to most people at this point.

mepersoner · 01-18-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bone

I wonder what his contract states...how many more fights?

He's not gonna fight GSP and he's not gonna fight A.Silva but maybe some of the others will take place.

GSP has stated several times now that he wouldn't rule out another fight with Hughes. I don't see it happening, but it isn't impossible.

Edit: Sorry for the double post.

gilliam · 01-18-2008, 04:28 PM

the only person on that list i see him wanting to fight is serra.........he knows gsp and bj are better then him and why would he take a chance losing to karo and tarnishing his legacy even more. As for anderson silva, matts not stupid.

mxfuel · 01-18-2008, 04:29 PM

Hallman-Unless he comes to the UFC, it won't happen. Hughes has said he will stay with the ufc until he retires and Dana won't let another organization's fighter fight.

Karo-should happen but Karo has said he gets a shot at the title and doesn't really want to fight anyone hard until than.

Serra-Should happen. I see it as the best chance of who Hughes will fight next but he has to fight GSP first.

BJ-don't think it will happen. BJ needs to worry about the division he is in.

GSP-Hughes lost the triology. GSP just has his number now. Would like GSP to fight others in the division first.

Spider-I don't think Hughes could get him down. The Spider just looks to good right now. Hendo has all of Hughes wrestling ability with more size. Lets see how Hendo does.

T-Bone · 01-18-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mepersoner

GSP has stated several times now that he wouldn't rule out another fight with Hughes. I don't see it happening, but it isn't impossible.

Edit: Sorry for the double post.

Of course GSP would fight him...but there's no way Hughes signs up to get worked over again.

GSPALLTHEWAY · 01-18-2008, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mepersoner

Recently there has been much speculation about when Matt Hughes will retire. He himself has said that he doesn't have many fights left in him. Before he retires, there are six still intriguing match-ups for him, here they are with the order they should be fought in and what it means to each fighter in the fight.

#6 - Dennis Hallman at 170

The only other person besides GSP to hold two wins over Matt Hughes, only without that one loss. Although Dennis Hallman is now a mid-level fighter at 185 and is not currently with the UFC, this match-up would still hold importance to Matt Hughes and his fans. Dennis Hallman has two first round submission victories over Hughes and that alone would probably be reason enough for Hughes to take this fight. A win for Hallman would immediately put him in the top of the UFC welterweight division, and would be a great return for him to the UFC and the 170 pound division.

#5 - Karo Parisyan at 170

The fight that never happened and should have. Parisyan has been been beating tough competition for years now, looking for that title shot. Unfortunately for him GSP, who soundly beat him in their last fight, is now the 170 pound champion - and he's better. A win against Karo for Hughes would prove that he's still a contender, and that he may still have one last chance at the 170 pound title. A win for Karo would mean he's not going away anytime soon.

#4 - Matt Serra at 170

An entire season between these two Tuf coaches with a title shot at the end... and it doesn't happen? These two hate each other and besides both being fighters are nearly polar opposites. This fight has to happen, the battle of the Matts.

#3 - BJ Penn at 170

Matt's arch-rival before GSP showed up. Penn is currently 1-1 with Hughes with their first fight making Hughes look like an amatuer. The second fight was an uninspired win with a question mark over its head, did Hughes only win because Penn injured himself, was it a fluke? This trilogy needs to be finished after Hughes has beaten a few 170 pounders and Penn has defended his 155 pound title a few times.

#2 - GSP at 170

Most people's immediate reactions to this will be that it should not happen. I would almost agree, except after GSP runs through contender after contender there's going to have to be some rematches. If GSP beats Serra, this will be another title shot for Hughes, well deserved if he beats Hallman, Parisyan, Serra and Penn. If Serra beats GSP, then it will be a title shot that GSP will probably have worked his way back up to after Hughes beat Serra for the title. If Hughes manages to win this fight he will cement himself as not just the most accomplished WW of all time, but the best. It will be time to move onto to bigger and better things. If GSP were to win again, it'd just prove what is already known, Matt Hughes has no answer for GSP.

#1 Anderson Silva at 185 pounds

Before Anderson Silva dismantled Rich Franklin for the first time and began his reign of terror above the 185 pound division, Matt Hughes said if Silva beat Franklin he'd move up to 185 to fight him. He didn't. If Hughes can pull off the five fights before this, there's no reason he can't move up to 185 and go straight for the belt before retiring. Hughes needs to put his money where his mouth is and Silva is happy to fight whoever is put in front of him.

when i saw 6 fights i first thought no way... but looking at this list its pretty good! id say hallman at the VERY end of his career as a revenge type deal... if he won 4 fights in a row of the above listed names maybe give him a shot at GSP but that cant happen anytime soon... i always thought hed really have a great shot at silva... why not move up to 185 right now and go for that?

BCguy · 01-18-2008, 04:58 PM

Most of these matches make sense. But no reason for Hughes to ever fight GSP again. Plus with Matt's "I only play if i can win" attitude , i don't think he would want that fight anyway.

OneTwoPunch · 01-18-2008, 05:00 PM

Will never happen.

Ring_Raider_07 · 01-18-2008, 06:20 PM

How do you know BJ is better that Hughes. Rather BJ got injured or not, Hughes still won.

I'd like to see him fight Karo and Serra. 6 fights is about a 2 year time frame, and I don't know if he's interested in fighting that long.

KungFuGrip · 01-18-2008, 06:22 PM

I must have double vision RR^^

Good topic. We need to see BJ/Hughes 3, and Serra for obvious reasons. The rest I could live without.

kev0 · 01-18-2008, 09:03 PM

I can just see the meeting b/w DW and Hughes, with White asking Hughes to gear up and take another run at the title. I think that Hughes will fight Serra and then consider moving up to take a crack at A. Silva.

Tony Starks · 01-18-2008, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mepersoner

I came up with it. I considered adding Pele to the list just because he's the only other guy who has beaten Hughes who isn't on the list, but figured it'd be the least interesting to most people at this point.

I would be very interested to see Pele vs Hughes again. Pele is one of my favorites and you guys know how I feel about Hughes

Pele hasn't looked good in a long time and never really developed a solid TD defense, I think Hughes would beat him in a rematch.

Jenkins83 · 01-18-2008, 11:11 PM

I agree with all the fights you listed except for GSP. GSP not only beat, but finished Hughes in 2 out of 3 fights, and that third fight was total domination by GSP. GSP proved he has Hughes's number, a fourth fight would just be more of the same. Out of all of them, the one possible future fight I really want to see is Hughes vs. Parysian.

Osnodon · 01-19-2008, 01:44 AM

Hughes v Penn III needs to happen for the fans but for BJ he needs to stay focused at 155.

Beazt · 01-19-2008, 02:14 AM

Matt Hughes will not fight 6 more times unless he wins the title.

The only fights I would get really psyched for are as follows:

#4 Hughes vs Serra - Too much hype not to happen
#3 Hughes vs Penn - #3 to finally prove who is better
#2 Hughes vs A. Silva - Avenge Rich Franklin's loss
#1 Hughes vs R. Franklin - What better way to go out, then lose to a friend?

I also don't agree with any of the posters above who said Hughes will never fight A. Silva. Dana and co. will put on any fight that Hughes wants.
If Hughes wants it, then there is no way UFC denies him.

Plus, I see Hughes pulling a retirement/un-retirement ala Royce Gracie or Randy Couture. However, I think he'll succeed a little better than both.

Gooner · 01-19-2008, 02:54 AM

I only care about BJ-Hughes III.
No need for a GSP-Hughes IV imo.

I doubt he's gonna fight 6 more times and putting all those fights together would be pretty much impossible.
"So Matt, BJ just kicked your ass, how about moving up in weight and fighting the dominant champ there? It's a good storyline."