Hughes Roars, Ortiz Bores at UFC 50
Matt Hughes vs Georges St-Pierre
Josh Gross Oct 23, 2004
Though the contest was featured third on the live television
pay-per-view, the Matt
Hughes-Georges St. Pierre welterweight championship fight
deserved top billing.
For Hughes, it was the opportunity that his mentor, Pat Miletich, never received: a chance to regain his status as champion after a shocking welterweight-title-losing defeat. Facing 23-year-old Canadian Georges St. Pierre (7-0-1), an extremely strong yet relatively inexperienced competitor, Hughes (38-4-0) executed a textbook armbar from side control at the 4:59 mark of round one.
Afterwards, Hughes said he felt St. Pierre relax as the round
closed, probably because he didn't realize how much time was
left.
The contest was as even as they come through 80 percent of the first round. Both men scored takedowns. Both men regained their footing. Aside from a St. Pierre spinning sidekick that scored to Hughes' midsection and the odd punch, the contest even heading into the final 60 seconds.
It was then that the Matt Hughes who dominated a division for three years emerged. A takedown brought the contest to the mat -- the place in which Hughes, 31, feels most at home -- and he slowly advanced from St. Pierre's half-guard to side control. The strikes didn't come in bunches, but they did come. With the round's final seconds ticking away, Hughes secured St. Pierre's right arm, spun around the Canadian's head and locked in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu 101 armbar.
St. Pierre didn't know what hit him, and without the ability to see the dying clock, he tapped with just one tick remaining in the period. "I performed very well, but just the very end of the round, maybe the five last seconds of the round, I did the beginner mistake," said a better-for-the-experience St. Pierre. "I never did that type of mistake before."
Under the circumstances he fought well, displaying the outstanding strength he was billed as carrying into the ring. Unfortunately, St. Pierre just wasn't ready to face the likes of Hughes in a title fight.
"This was the first fight where I had pressure like this. Fighting Matt Hughes, a monument of the sport, I fought like a spectator the last second of the round."
For Hughes, it was the opportunity that his mentor, Pat Miletich, never received: a chance to regain his status as champion after a shocking welterweight-title-losing defeat. Facing 23-year-old Canadian Georges St. Pierre (7-0-1), an extremely strong yet relatively inexperienced competitor, Hughes (38-4-0) executed a textbook armbar from side control at the 4:59 mark of round one.
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The contest was as even as they come through 80 percent of the first round. Both men scored takedowns. Both men regained their footing. Aside from a St. Pierre spinning sidekick that scored to Hughes' midsection and the odd punch, the contest even heading into the final 60 seconds.
It was then that the Matt Hughes who dominated a division for three years emerged. A takedown brought the contest to the mat -- the place in which Hughes, 31, feels most at home -- and he slowly advanced from St. Pierre's half-guard to side control. The strikes didn't come in bunches, but they did come. With the round's final seconds ticking away, Hughes secured St. Pierre's right arm, spun around the Canadian's head and locked in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu 101 armbar.
St. Pierre didn't know what hit him, and without the ability to see the dying clock, he tapped with just one tick remaining in the period. "I performed very well, but just the very end of the round, maybe the five last seconds of the round, I did the beginner mistake," said a better-for-the-experience St. Pierre. "I never did that type of mistake before."
Under the circumstances he fought well, displaying the outstanding strength he was billed as carrying into the ring. Unfortunately, St. Pierre just wasn't ready to face the likes of Hughes in a title fight.
"This was the first fight where I had pressure like this. Fighting Matt Hughes, a monument of the sport, I fought like a spectator the last second of the round."
