Hughes wanted GSP or Diego, NOT Lytle - Fight Forum - MMA - UFC - Boxing - K1

Heatwaves · 03-15-2007, 01:23 PM

According to the Houston Chronicle, everything wasn't all roses for Matt Hughes. Although publicly Hughes supported the UFC's decision to have him face Lytle and was quoted saying he wanted one or two fights before re-facing GSP -- it wasn't necessarily true.

In his postfight interview for UFC 68, a slightly embittered Hughes said "When you're the champion, and you get dethroned, I think you should be able to come back and get an immediate title shot, to be honest."

When he was denied GSP, Huges said he requested Diego but was denied by the UFC: "I actually asked for Diego in this fight. It's the only time I've really asked for somebody, and they said they had something else going on for Diego. I don't have anything against Diego, I just wanted to fight him."

I'm not sure, why he decided to come out with this now but I have to say that I agree with him. If you've successfully defended your title 9 times, you should have your say about when the re-match happens.

For the full article, click here:
Brawl Sports: Hughes takes swing outside octagon

droplogic · 03-15-2007, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heatwaves

According to the Houston Chronicle, everything wasn't all roses for Matt Hughes. Although publicly Hughes supported the UFC's decision to have him face Lytle and was quoted saying he wanted one or two fights before re-facing GSP -- it wasn't necessarily true.

In his postfight interview for UFC 68, a slightly embittered Hughes said "When you're the champion, and you get dethroned, I think you should be able to come back and get an immediate title shot, to be honest."

When he was denied GSP, Huges said he requested Diego but was denied by the UFC: "I actually asked for Diego in this fight. It's the only time I've really asked for somebody, and they said they had something else going on for Diego. I don't have anything against Diego, I just wanted to fight him."

I'm not sure, why he decided to come out with this now but I have to say that I agree with him. If you've successfully defended your title 9 times, you should have your say about when the re-match happens.

For the full article, click here:
Brawl Sports: Hughes takes swing outside octagon

I don't necessarily agree, I mean, where does it end really. Would GSP get an immediate chance to attempt a title shot again if Hughes beat him? And then if GSP won that, would Hughes get another crack at it? Maybe he feels like he made dumb mistakes, I didn't see that in their last encounter, he was clearly dominated. I think the result would be the same if he faught him 4 days later, a week later, a month later or a year later. Hughes needs to be forced to go back to camp and learn new tricks before his thirst for the title undoes all the work he's put behind him and ends up like a Ken Shamrock trying to fight GSP for the umpteenth time.

Good post btw, Heatwaves +10 points for supplying a constant flow of news bites.

Heatwaves · 03-15-2007, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by droplogic

I don't necessarily agree, I mean, where does it end really. Would GSP get an immediate chance to attempt a title shot again if Hughes beat him? And then if GSP won that, would Hughes get another crack at it? Maybe he feels like he made dumb mistakes, I didn't see that in their last encounter, he was clearly dominated. I think the result would be the same if he faught him 4 days later, a week later, a month later or a year later. Hughes needs to be forced to go back to camp and learn new tricks before his thirst for the title undoes all the work he's put behind him and ends up like a Ken Shamrock trying to fight GSP for the umpteenth time.

Good post btw, Heatwaves +10 points for supplying a constant flow of news bites.

Thanks for the compliment.

For one, I think it's a general, unwritten rule that re-matches are best 2 out of 3, unless there is some controversy a la Shamrock/Ortiz or unless one of the fights was years in the past. I would also add one more caveat, it the two are big money, high profile fighters that would earn the UFC instant bank, I could also see a series of fights perpetuating.

I think the question of immediate title shot rematches totally depends on his history as a champion, which is totally subjective. If you've defended your title long enough, you deserve an immediate rematch. If you haven't been a champion for long, you have to work your way back. There is no exact formula, but in my mind Hughes and Liddell are the only two who have successfully defended their titles long enough to deserve immediate re-matches. Sherk, GSP, Franklin, Silva, Silvia and Couture have not defended the title enough to earn that right yet.

Gooner · 03-15-2007, 01:58 PM

He didn't come out with it now, he said it in the post fight press conference and it was posted back then as well.

AikaImmortal · 03-15-2007, 01:59 PM

Sour grapes, he knew about the contractual obligations and required title fight for the winners regarding TUF4.

droplogic · 03-15-2007, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gooner

He didn't come out with it now, he said it in the post fight press conference and it was posted back then as well.

I may be in the minority here but I'd much rather see a "repost" (and i quote that because i didn't see the original) or 'late news' than something like...oh i don't know...sexy sexy sexy? Was that a good enough example?

Gooner · 03-15-2007, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by droplogic

I may be in the minority here but I'd much rather see a "repost" (and i quote that because i didn't see the original) or 'late news' than something like...oh i don't know...sexy sexy sexy? Was that a good enough example?

http://www.fightforum.com/ufc/8378-j...=juicy+tidbits

I wasn't so much whining about posting a repost, but correcting a mistake there.

As for your opinion on the sexy-thread... well, I must say I strongly disagree. That thread is the best thing to ever happen to FF.

BlingDogg · 03-15-2007, 02:25 PM

Yeah, I knew Hughes said this about wanting to fight Diego or GSP already. It was in his website or something too, a while back.

I don't think a defeated champ should get an immediate rematch. It's stupid. He (and this goes for anyone) loses, but since he was the former champ, he gets special treatment, and gets to go for the title again? How is this fair to all the other contenders in the division, when they continually have to work hard and earn their title shots?

Look at guys like Karo Parisyan. He was supposed to get the title shot a long time ago, but was injured and never got the chance again. Yeah, I know he lost later fights, but he should still get a title shot.

Same thing with Diego. If Hughes did get the immediate rematch with GSP, why should he deserve the shot more than Diego, who's undefeated, while Hughes just lost?

Same thing with Fitch. He's a top contender in the WW division, I'd rather see him fight GSP than Hughes. Even Koscheck.

These guys and others have made their way to the top, so why should they miss their chance? And what if they lose in the time between Hughes did actually fight GSP? Their records wouldn't be so good anymore, and they may no longer be considered top contenders anymore.

A former champ should have to work his way back up the hard way, like anyone else. They may have once been the champ, but that's over.

Heatwaves · 03-15-2007, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gooner

http://www.fightforum.com/ufc/8378-j...=juicy+tidbits

I wasn't so much whining about posting a repost, but correcting a mistake there.

Not really a mistake, I noted that he said it in the UFC 68 post-fight interview. By my comment on "bringing it up now", I should have been clearer. I meant bringing it up now as opposed to when the fight was first signed in January.

My apologies for a repost, this was the first that I had heard of the news (the Houston Chronicle MMA writer wrote about it today). I did a search for similar threads, but since the titles were dissimilar I didn't catch any redundancies.

RockemSockem · 03-15-2007, 03:20 PM

This situation is easy to debate from both sides. Imo, whoever is the #1 contender should get the fight. If they're not going to let Hughes and Diego fight, Hughes is still the #1 in my mind. There are a few people who have a decent shot at beating him, but i'd make him a solid favorite against everybody, except GSP. Plus, everyone else can use more time to solidify their skills. Hughes is probably as good as he's going to get. And he's getting up their in age. There are a lot of circumstances to consider. All the other WW contenders are very young, this may be Hughes' last chance. For a guy who defended successfully so many times, can't we cut him a little slack on this?

Daniel · 03-15-2007, 03:25 PM

I don't think the champion should ever get an instant title shot after losing his belt. Maybe a battle for the number one contender spot, but even then I would rather see the ex-champion climb back to the top, starting with a match like Christ Lytle vs Matt Hughes. That was a pretty good fight, despite Matt Hughes' insistence on winning by a slow, drawn out decision. It was still entertaining at the beginning when Lytle went for the choke and when he was swinging at Hughes at the start of each round. Lytle had so much to gain in that fight, it made him train and fight a lot harder than he did against Matt Serra. When a champion is down, a nobody like Chris Lytle should be given the chance to pick him apart while he's wounded, to pounce while he's down, and a true champion should be able to battle back from that position like Matt Hughes did.

milkme · 03-15-2007, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockemSockem

For a guy who defended successfully so many times, can't we cut him a little slack on this?

Not in this case. Hughes was asking for the impossible, and Dana couldn't let him have it. GSP had to defend his title with Sera before hughes could get a rematch and hughes knew that. But he didn't want to "do nothing" so he asked for another match and he wanted to fight with deigo, but Dana already had plans for him so, again, hughes couldn't get what he wanted.

I don't know why he's complaining though, Lytle gave him a run for his money. In fact, hughes performance at UFC 68 was less-than-stellar. He didn't even look like a former champion.

Corey · 03-15-2007, 03:35 PM

old news

IrishRage · 03-16-2007, 12:35 AM

Diego's Camp was trying to get a match with Matt for the giant exposure and pretty much 100% title shot with a win and Matt or his agents or Dana didn't want it. So who knows he can say all he wants months after the fact, but he gave a typical boring fight against Lytle anyways, he will get GSP at UFC 74 in Toronto Canada

you all watch ! lol

RockemSockem · 03-16-2007, 03:18 AM

I don't know what fight some of you were watching. Just because Hughes didn't attack with reckless abandon doesn't mean he didn't try to finish. Lytle has good JJ. Hughes passed guard a number of times and tried to finish a number of times. Not his best performance obviously, but the way some of you are calling that fight is dead wrong.

BlingDogg · 03-16-2007, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockemSockem

I don't know what fight some of you were watching. Just because Hughes didn't attack with reckless abandon doesn't mean he didn't try to finish. Lytle has good JJ. Hughes passed guard a number of times and tried to finish a number of times. Not his best performance obviously, but the way some of you are calling that fight is dead wrong.

Yeah, I don't know why so many people don't like that fight. I know it wasn't a perfect fight from Hughes, and not how a former champ should been. But that didn't stop it from being a good fight. I thought it was exciting (apart from round3), and both guys showed alot of skill.

IrishRage · 03-18-2007, 12:25 AM

All I saw in the Hughes Lytle fight , was how amazing Lytle is for being a Firefighter and still having the time to put the right amount of training to prepare. A full time fighter against a part time fighter is always nice to see. Matt hughes used what he does best , taking his opponent down with his great wrestling skills then going for side mount and wrecking someones head with elbows and fist which either leads to TKO or a quick submission , Lytle didn't give him anything to truly work with , Matt kept plugging with minimal success and due to his last fight with GSP he didn't want to stand at all
(GOOD THINKING MATT) 3 rounds of a wrestler taking down a boxer and not being able to do anything is not a great fight or even a good fight so Be as defensive as you wish I am sure Hughes will send you all Hallmark cards thanking you. Hughes didn't understand why Lytle took the fight , didn't feel he was even in the same League as him and at the end all that was really settled was that Matt hughes has good takedowns and is a great wrestler , I could of told you that before the fight . ZZZZZZ

droplogic · 03-18-2007, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishRage

Diego's Camp was trying to get a match with Matt for the giant exposure and pretty much 100% title shot with a win and Matt or his agents or Dana didn't want it. So who knows he can say all he wants months after the fact, but he gave a typical boring fight against Lytle anyways, he will get GSP at UFC 74 in Toronto Canada

you all watch ! lol

MMA In Ontario

Quote:

All I saw in the Hughes Lytle fight , was how amazing Lytle is for being a Firefighter and still having the time to put the right amount of training to prepare. A full time fighter against a part time fighter is always nice to see. Matt hughes used what he does best , taking his opponent down with his great wrestling skills then going for side mount and wrecking someones head with elbows and fist which either leads to TKO or a quick submission , Lytle didn't give him anything to truly work with , Matt kept plugging with minimal success and due to his last fight with GSP he didn't want to stand at all
(GOOD THINKING MATT) 3 rounds of a wrestler taking down a boxer and not being able to do anything is not a great fight or even a good fight so Be as defensive as you wish I am sure Hughes will send you all Hallmark cards thanking you. Hughes didn't understand why Lytle took the fight , didn't feel he was even in the same League as him and at the end all that was really settled was that Matt hughes has good takedowns and is a great wrestler , I could of told you that before the fight . ZZZZZZ

Agreed 100%.

King Kameamea · 03-18-2007, 07:39 AM

Hughes needs to keep his mouth shut. His skills as we knew them are gone and I don't believe he will ever hold the belt again.

opsy · 03-18-2007, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Kameamea

Hughes needs to keep his mouth shut. His skills as we knew them are gone and I don't believe he will ever hold the belt again.

Based on 1 silly fight w/ GSP and the Lytle fight? And where did his skills go exactly? I'll edit your post for you, see if I can't make it contribute to the discussion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Kameamea

Hughes needs to curb his antics. I find he blatentely disrespects many fighters which is uncalled for. His skills have not evolved to the point where he can compete with the rest of the WW division in contention with the title. That being said I don't believe he will ever retain the belt. Oh and GO HOGAR !!111!!ELEVEN!1!

BAM

As for me I think it is a testament to Hughes as a fighter that he wanted a strong fighter which could jeopardize his rematch for the title. And, even though I love the guy I agree his rematch with GSP will be real tough.