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MATT HUGHES Just Reaping What He Sows
Matt Hughes defends his UFC World Welterweight Title Page 1 - part 1 - 5 © Marc Wickert On November 21, 2003, Matt Hughes will be putting his UFC Welterweight Championship Belt on the line when he defends his title for the fifth time. Matt’s opponent at UFC 45: Revolution will be Frank Trigg: a man renowned for his wrestling abilities. Born in Hillsboro, Illinois, Matt Hughes took up wrestling as a freshman at fourteen years. "I had an older cousin who wrestled and I kinda wanted to be like him. I looked at it, and I liked it, so I thought I might do well at it, " says Matt. Matt was a two-time state champion in high school, a high school All American, and a four-time collegiate All-American wrestler. Whilst he was coaching wrestling at Eastern Illinois University, Matt adapted his skills to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) because he loved to compete. "I was fighting a small show in Chicago and Pat Miletich was reffing the bout. It was my first ever MMA competition, and I won. Then I fought up there again, and Pat, Jeremy Horn and Monty Cox were just there watching. They brought me over and they said, ‘Hey, you oughta come to train with us over in Iowa.’ I thought, ‘Well. I don’t know. Maybe.’ I didn’t know if I wanted to take this sport seriously or if I was just going to play with it, or what. "But I ended up going over there - maybe once a month, for a weekend or something - working out with those guys. And I liked it. It worked out well for me. So I guess it was ’99 or 2000 I moved over there. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since." Miletich and Hughes became great friends and have developed a training relationship similar to exchange students, where Matt works on Pat’s wrestling skills and Pat strengthens Matt’s striking abilities. Along with Jeremy Horn, they also assist in the instruction of other Team Miletich fighters. Miletich Fighting Systems’ (MFS) gym is renowned for the camaraderie among its athletes. When one fighter is competing in the Octagon, the other Team Miletich members watch the bout and encourage their fighter. "We all look out for one another and we all want to make each other better. So that’s what sets us apart from a lot of other places, where they’re just concentrating on one or two people. We all want to see each other do well. "We’ll never fight against each other in a Live situation for money or if a record’s at stake. And we’ll tell people. ‘Hey, if you’re going to come and train with us for a month or two months, don’t look forward to meeting any of our guys in competition,’ because we’re not going to teach people to beat us."
Despite the athletes from MFS all having separate lives, the fighters often go to lunch and hang out together regularly. And while the members of Team Miletich are known around town, Bettendorf Iowa is not about to become the mid-western capital of MMA. "There is a little bit of spirit here, but not a whole lot, to be honest. The people here just maybe don’t understand, but I wouldn’t say there’s a whole lot of community spirit." Fellow team member Jeremy Horn regards Matt Hughes as being a natural athlete, whilst Pat Miletich says Matt is a ‘genetic freak’, due to Hughes’s incredible strength and ability to get in shape quickly. He has also done well at anything he has taken up athletically. "I know where Jeremy and Pat are coming from. My twin brother Mark does not work out, but he’s just about as strong as I am, and he looks like I do even though I workout all the time. So yeah, I’m pretty gifted genetically," says Hughes. One physical feature separating Matt from most other fighters is his muscular neck that would appear to defy a hangman’s noose. Matt admits he did do some wrestler’s bridges in the past, but he has never really done a lot of neck work: It’s just naturally big and strong. "But I don’t usually give guys a chance to test it out with a choke," laughs Hughes. Matt has a reputation for being an easygoing, down-to-earth guy. UFC’s Jack Taylor says when they arrive at an event with the UFC truck, Matt is the first one to come over, drop his training bag, and help them unload the equipment. "That’s kinda the way I was brought up, to be honest. Being a regular guy is something that’s a constant battle for anybody who’s in the limelight, but I try to fight that battle every day to where I wake up, look in the mirror, and say, ‘Hey, man, you gotta know where you come from.’ And you’ve just got to be an everyday guy." Matt Hughes is a country boy at heart and still resides on his farm in Illinois weekends. Mondays he makes the three-hour drive to Bettendorf, Iowa, where he stays in an apartment close to the gym for training during the week. When Matt retires from the Octagon, he intends returning to the farm with the possibility of taking up some instructing work for the police or the military. And the fight with Frank Trigg? "It will be tough. Frank is a hard-nosed guy. I don’t think he can really beat me anywhere as far as I think I’m a better striker than he is. I think I’m actually a better wrestler than he is. I’m real sure I’m better at submissions than he is. But anything can happen, and he’s one of those guys who could hit me and hurt me. So he’s a strong wrestler, and he could put me on my back, but that really doesn’t bother me. But anything could happen and I’m taking it very seriously. I’m training harder for this fight than I’ve been training for a long time." Both Hughes and Pat Miletich have successfully defended their welterweight titles on four occasions. If Matt wins his bout on November 21, he will be the only man to have successfully defended his UFC title five times.
For more on Matt Hughes: www.ufc.tv and www.teammfs.com/hughes.htm Result:
MATT HUGHES
Part 2
History in the Making
© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges When Matt Hughes steps into the Octagon on October 22, 2004, at UFC 50: The War of ’04, he will have the opportunity to become the first man in history to win UFC’s World Welterweight Championship for the sixth time. Matt’s opponent for this title bout will be Canada’s Georges St. Pierre, who boasts an MMA record of 7-0-0. And the only other man to have held the welterweight title for five times is Hughes’s training partner, Pat Miletich. At the time of this interview, Matt is driving to Iowa to work out with Pat at the Team Miletich gym. Matt has been busy harvesting corn on his farm in Illinois, and makes the weekly trek to Pat’s to prepare for his match against St. Pierre. "I’m driving up to Iowa. I just left the farm and we’re driving up to train this week. Then I’ll come back to the farm on Friday to work some more. When I don’t have a fight coming up, I work on the farm all the time, but since I have a fight coming up, I’m going to start training. "It’s a grain, corn, beans and wheat farm. And right now we’re shelling corn. When I was a kid, it would have helped me with my strength because I could…everything was so heavy. But now…I wouldn’t say it helps my training or anything like that. But farming’s what I love to do. I drive a truck, a tractor or a combine, so I can do about anything on the farm." For Hughes’s last appearance in the Octagon, he fought BJJ master Renalto Verissimo at UFC 48: Pay Back. The battle went the full three rounds and had to be decided by the judges, with both men providing a great demonstration for MMA fans. Matt says the bout was harder than he expected. "Yes, very much so. He was tough. I mean, I thought when I got Renalto down and was able to control him, that I’d be able to just strike him and hurt him, but I tell you, he’s just so good with submissions that he kept me on defense a lot of the time." Another victory Hughes achieved was against Frank Trigg (see knucklepit.com article), at UFC45: Revolution, and Trigg will also be competing at UFC 50 - this time he will be fighting Renalto Verissimo. Trigg previously stated that he’d love a rematch with Matt. Hughes says he’d be happy to accommodate Frank. "I don’t care…whatever. I fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me." Georges St. Pierre made his Octagon debut with an impressive win against Karo Parisyan at UFC 46: Super Natural. He followed this victory with a win over Jay Hieron at UFC 48. And Matt was impressed with Georges’s performance. "It was good. His stand up was better than I thought. So he looks tough. He is young though. And it’s just going to be a question of when I get him on his back: What’s he going to do?" Hughes also has thoughts on what he expects St. Pierre’s game strategy to be. "Well I think he’s definitely going to try to get in as good a shape as he can. And he’s going to want to keep it standing, maybe. But I just don’t think he’s going to want to be on the ground underneath me. I’m probably going to leave my training preparation the same for this fight. I think when I get him down he’s going to be in trouble somewhat, so that’s what I’m planning on doing." Matt is known for his incredible, natural strength, and he always comes into a fight with great match fitness. But Georges is probably one of the few fighters Hughes has been up against who is also known for his strength and fitness. "St. Pierre is young and he looks strong…I would say we’re somewhat alike, but I would have to say that I would be stronger than he is. And fitnesswise, I’ll be fine. He’s never fought five rounds, so that might be a factor. But I’ve fought five rounds I don’t know how many times. For me it will be nothing new. For him it will be a different thing. And he might be nervous a little bit with it being a championship fight, and he might even be a little nervous fighting me."
Matt, will the bout go the five rounds? "I don’t know. I don’t know. Um, let’s hope not, but it might." How are you going to win this fight? "I’ll take him down and I’ll beat a submission out of him, is how I’d have to predict it." Are you training with anyone else for this fight besides the Team Miletich crew? "No, just Pat Miletich in particular." You Team Miletich guys were pretty proud of Justin Eilers making his Octagon debut at UFC 49 weren’t you? "Justin, he works out with us, but he’s so big that I really don’t work out a lot with him. He’s a great athlete though, and he used that athleticism, and he looked great in there." How would he stack up against Frank Mir or Andrea Arlovski? "Well, I don’t know. He’d have to keep it standing to beat Frank Mir. You know, I think as soon as he hit Frank, Frank would be in trouble. And Andrea Arlovski? He’s pretty well-rounded. He might give my guy some fits. He could give Justin some problems." What about Tito against Guy Mezger? "I think that’s going to be a thing of cardio. Guy has to be in shape to compete with Tito. There’s no doubt about that, so let’s hope Guy is in shape. But I think that’s going to be a good fight if he’s in shape." Matt, is there anything you’d like to add to this article? "Ah, no…I’m very excited to fight for my title and I hope I can get that back."
For more on Matt Hughes and UFC 50 – www.ufc.tv
MATT HUGHES
PART 3
A Wealth of
Experience
 Matt Hughes vs Georges St. Pierre at UFC 50
©
Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges At Atlantic City, New Jersey, on October 21, 2004, welterweight champion Matt Hughes became the first UFC fighter to win a title six times in any one division. With only five seconds remaining in the first round, Hughes submitted Georges St. Pierre by arm bar at UFC 50: War of 04. After the fight, Matt spoke to UFC’s Jack Taylor about the submission: "It’s not something new for me. I have used arm bars to defeat opponents before. But, it is the first time I have used one to end a fight." Montreal’s St. Pierre had faired well in the bout prior to Hughes’s sudden victory, but Matt says it was more a case of his firing up late in the round, rather than his having to weather the storm in the early minutes of the bout. "I started slowly and picked it up at the end of the first round. I knew he was young and my experience was going to end up paying off. And it did. My forty-some fights versus his seven: there’s no comparison with experience." After Matt was declared winner, Georges took Hughes by surprise when he hoisted the champion on his shoulders and paraded him around the Octagon for an impromptu victory lap. "I was very surprised when he picked me up and started to carry me around. I was looking for my brother to come and get me down. I felt a little uneasy up there, so I was glad to get my feet back on the ground." Fellow welterweight Frank Trigg also claimed victory at UFC 50 when he defeated Renato Verissimo in round two of their bout. Consequently, Frank is hopeful of a rematch with Matt. Hughes observed the Trigg vsVerissimo fight prior to his match. "I watched that and it was a back-and-forth bout. I really thought when Verissimo got him in the triangle, the match was over. But Verissimo actually made a bunch of mistakes that Trigg kinda got lucky on because Verissimo made those mistakes. And Renato just needs more experience in there. I think they both got tired, but I knew if Verissimo didn’t get him early, he was going to get gassed. And I think they were both somewhat tired at the end." Matt says Renato and Georges are two young athletes with tons of potential, who he believes will go a long way in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. And the welterweight champion pays these fighters the ultimate compliment: "I’m glad I fought both of them early when I had experience on my side." The welterweight division comprises some of UFC’s best fighters, including Hughes, Trigg, St. Pierre, Verissimo, and Parisyan. But Matt doesn’t believe his weight class is stealing the show from other divisions. "Well I don’t think so. It might be from everyone except the light heavyweight. You know with Randy Couture wanting to fight the Axe Murderer, Wanderlei Silva… I mean, Randy’s fought everybody. And I’m definitely not taking any spotlight away from him." It seems hard to believe one of Mixed Martial Arts’ greatest ever champions spends most of his time farming in Hillsboro, Illinois, and has trouble balancing rural activities with his fight career. "My heart is really with the farming and being at home, as opposed to going up to Iowa, which is three hours away. So I would definitely say I’d rather be working on the farm than up in Iowa training. We’ve actually got all the crops out of the field now, and we’re doing some work around the farm. In the spring, we’ll take wheat out and we’ll put corn and beans in."
Matt, none of your corn ends up at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery does it? "No, it doesn’t." You said to Georges St. Pierre that you wouldn’t want to be fighting him in a year’s time. "Yeah, because I think he’ll be a lot more experienced in a year." So you’ll still be fighting in a year? "I sure will be." How is Tim Sylvia shaping up for his fight with Andrei Arlovski? "Tim is doing fine. And he’s been practising from the whole time he’s been hurt. Tim will be right on track when it come February, and he’ll be the same old Tim Sylvia, and a little bit sharper, I’m sure." How will he go against Andrei? "That will be a tough fight, but if it stays standing, Tim will knock him out." But Team Miletich fighters are known for being well rounded, and none of you are slackers when it comes to ground work, are you? "No. And Tim is improving every day, so by the time February comes around, Tim should be fine." What do you think about his going on Blind Date: Is that a bit scary? "I’m probably not the one you’ve got to ask. You gotta ask his girlfriend about that. I don’t know if she’s found out yet." Matt, is there anything you’d like to add to this article? "I’d just like to thank all my fans and my sponsors: www.tapoutinyourface.com, Armourlite rifle company here in the United States, and Rick’s Tire Barn in Oregon."
For more on Matt Hughes and UFC: www.ufc.tv
MATT HUGHES Direct From Phoenix, Iowa
© Marc Wickert All photos copyright
2004 Zuffa LLC When Matt Hughes strode down to the Octagon at UFC 52, there was no mistaking that the Illinois-born fighter was about to do whatever it took to win his bout against Frank Trigg. "I had my brother, another wrestler - Ben Uker, Jeremy Horn, and Pat Miletich walk out with me. I have a great corner team. Jeremy Horn has been in all types of battles, and Pat Miletich knows so much. If somebody looks in my corner they’ve got to be a little intimidated," says Hughes. Matt had previously defeated Frank by rear-naked choke at UFC 45: Revolution, and was determined to have their rematch end with another victory over Trigg. "I prepared about two months, and within those months I employed a boxing coach, Matt Pena, who really helped me with my boxing. Matt Pena’s whole family has boxed…his grandfather and his great-grandfather…He’s from a whole line of boxers. "So I felt very confident on my feet, with Frank, and on the ground going into the fight, feeling I had superior submissions. I was prepared to fight anywhere – on the ground or on my feet." There has always been a lot of tension between Hughes and Trigg, with the lead-up to their rematch being no different. But Matt saw the clash from a different perspective: "It was good versus evil: my fighting for the good. And also to prove it wasn’t a fluke the first time I fought him." In the early moments of their second encounter, Matt was the recipient of a knee below the belt, but he fought on, and managed to rise from the Octagon ashes like the fabled Phoenix. Hughes doubts Sly Stallone could have written a better script for the fight. "Probably not. My going down with a low blow and then my coming back, picking Frank up, and carrying him across the Octagon: I can’t see how a TV could play that any better. It went great for me, and I think, now, Frank Trigg knows if he can’t beat me in that situation, then when can he beat me?" Ironically, their second UFC meeting ended in the same way as the first: with Hughes submitting Trigg via a rear-naked choke, after Frank had attempted to reverse history by causing Matt to tap out earlier in the second bout with the same hold. From a spectator’s point of view, the duel seemed to last for four or five nail-biting rounds, rather than 4.05 minutes. Hughes recalls the fight in both fast-forward and slow motion. "It all happened so quickly. I was down, and then I was on top of him. I was picking him up, and then I was throwing elbows. To me it happened very quickly. But when I went back and watched the tape, it does seem a long fight. There’s just so much that goes on in that first round. You wouldn’t think it was the first round. You’d think it was the whole five rounds." Matt, when the rematch was announced, did you and Pat sit down and say, "Hey, we have to win this one." ? "No. We try to win them all, to be honest. We just knew I had a better submission than Frank had. So we were going to invest in a boxing coach and get me more confident on my feet as he was a southpaw and that throws people off. We just tried to work on my weaknesses, and one thing I always say: I’m going to try to be as well-rounded as I can get. And I’ll find a way to win – just being well-rounded." How intense was the preparation? "It was really intense. The last two weeks before the fight, every night I’d have three or four guys rotate in on me, just to wear me out, and to get a fresh guy to try and beat on me. So we had some of my most intense workouts preparing for this fight." Once in the ring, Frank Trigg never looks at an opponent before a fight, but turns his back on them instead. You chose to stare at the tattoos on his back anyway. "Yeah, I really don’t like the guy. It’s a pretty easy thing to do to get motivated – just staring at him." When you came out of the rear-naked choke, could you hear the crowd? "Yes. It was one of the only times when I could hear the crowd in that fight. But when I picked him up and turned, I heard the place erupt. I think it was one situation where it was hard not to hear the crowd." What’s next for you? "It all depends on what the UFC says. I’ve got a couple of things we’re talking about, but I’ve got nothing for sure." Matt, is there anything you’d like to add? "I’m glad that it was a great fight for the fans to watch and just to say hello to them. That’s it." Your Sponsors? "Tape Out, Go Fast, Full Contact Fighter, Armourlite Rifle, and Rick’s Tire Barn. They’re all great sponsors." For more on Matt Hughes and UFC 53: Heavy Hitters – www.ufc.tv
MATT
HUGHES I’d Love to Fight a Professional Boxer
© Marc Wickert All photos copyright
2004 Zuffa LLC With a career record of 40-4-0, Matt Hughes’s statistics speak for themselves. But the single factor separating Matt from any other MMA fighter in history is his winning of the UFC World Welterweight Title a staggering seven times. On Saturday, November 20, Hughes will be putting his belt on the line for the eighth time against the young and formidable Joe ‘Diesel’ Riggs at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. This title-defence bout was originally to have been waged between Hughes and Karo Parisyan, but Karo had to withdraw his hat from the Octagon ring after suffering an injury in training. And at just 23, Joe Riggs has been causing some diabolical ripples in the Octagon pond with his dynamic victories over name fighters – his last being against veteran Chris Lytle at UFC 55. Hughes takes this all in his laid-back, Hillsboro, Illinois, stride, but acknowledges his bout against Riggs is a big change from the first-anticipated fight with Karo Parisyan: "Yeah, they’re quite a bit different. And it very well might be a tougher fight," says Matt. "It will be the first time that I’ve actually had a bigger person facing me in the Octagon. Usually when I go in there I’m the bigger of the two fighters, and he’ll probably be heavier, wider and taller." Despite the difference in fighting styles and physiques between Parisyan and Riggs, Matt says his preparation for UFC 56 has altered little. "I train pretty much the same…I come in with a game plan and a strategy. Of course, that changed. But I always work on my weaknesses and try to be as well rounded as I can get. So nothing’s really changed - drastically." Hughes has taken on challenges from the best welterweights in the world whilst defending his title. And when asked what he sees as the trump cards he holds over his younger adversary, Matt points out two distinguishing aces he has up his sleeve: "I think experience. There’ve been a number of times I’ve fought 5 five-minute rounds and he’s never done that. Yeah, I think experience and endurance are going to be two major factors." In the majority of Matt’s Octagon battles he has been a much stronger combatant than his opponents, but he agrees this may not be the case against Joe. A former heavyweight and middleweight contestant, who now competes as a welterweight, Riggs has retained a lot of his strength despite cutting down in body weight. Hughes acknowledges the closeness in their power. "I think we will be very, very close – strengthwise. I’ve never grappled with him, so I don’t know, to be honest."
Matt, do you expect most of the battle to take place in the stand-up game or on the ground? "I believe it’s going to go wherever I want it to. I think I’m going to be able to put him wherever I want him. If I want to stand him, I’ll stand him. If I want to put him on the ground, I think I’ll be able to put him on the ground." So you’re going to dictate the way the fight unfolds? "Yeah, I believe I’m going to be able to pick the battleground." Changing the subject for a minute, Matt, do you feel the Sean Gannon vs Branden Lee Hinkle fight showed that your sport of Mixed Martial Arts is "as real as it gets"? And that you have to be more rounded rather than just being a street fighter with brute force? "Definitely. I think that’s the big misconception a lot of people have with our sport nowadays. And I’d love to fight a professional boxer in my future – just to let people know boxing is separate to what we do. And I believe if you put us in a boxing match, we would lose. But if you put a boxer on the street with us or in the Octagon, we’d kill them." On the street or in the Octagon, you’re saying, Matt? "On the street or in the Octagon, yes!" Will you be prepared if Joe Riggs tries raining down on you with those big bombs that he is known for? "Yeah, I’ve been working that. And when he gets on top or below, he likes to throw elbows, so I’ve been working on my elbow defence and keeping good hand control to prevent his doing that." What do you see as being his strengths against you? "His strengths against me? Ha Ha. His…Well it’s hard to count it as a strength, but on his feet he’s very unorthodox and you just don’t know…He’s not conventional, so that could be somewhat of a strength for him, because I’ll never know what he’s got lined up." Whether preparing for Karo or for Joe, how long have you been training for UFC 56? "About two months." Changing the subject again, what crop are you farming at present? "Actually, we just got done taking the beans and the corn out of the field. There’s not much going on right now." A while back I was picking peas, just to make ends meet. It’s hard work and there’s not much money in it, but you do what you can to make ends meet, don’t you? "I’ve never been around a pea farm, but I’ve been through those times before, believe me. My family hit bankruptcy back when I hit junior high. My dad left the farm pretty much and started driving a truck. And my brother, my mom, and I took care of the farm while he was gone." I know you and your brother, Mark, are twins, but how old would you guys have been when that happened? "We would have been like 12 when we hit bankruptcy." Matt, getting back to UFC 56, how are you going to win this fight? "I think I can win this fight a lot of ways. Most logical would be my being on top, raining punches or elbows." Who would you like to fight next? "That’s not up to me whatsoever. I fight whomever the UFC puts in front of me. And I don’t complain and I don’t ask, so, I mean it’s whatever they want. You’d have to direct that question towards Dana White." Matt, is there anything you’d like to add? "I’d just like to thank the fans." Your sponsors? "Xyience, Tapout, Go Fast, Full Contact Fighter, and Multi Power."
For more on Matt Hughes and UFC 56: www.ufc.tv.
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