UFC 50 Preview
Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre
Oct 22, 2004
Matt Hughes vs. Georges
St. Pierre
HUGHES: Matt Hughes is a two-time Junior College All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, Extreme Challenge 21 and 29 tournament winner and former UFC welterweight champion. He trains with Jeremy Horn, Tim Sylvia, Tony Fryklund, Pat Miletich and the rest of Miletich Fighting Systems with a record of 34-4 in MMA.
Matt began fighting MMA in 1997 and debuted in the UFC in 1999. He
lost to Dennis Hallman twice
but both fights were extremely quick, neither lasting more than 30
seconds. Another rare loss was to Jose Landi-jons in the Shidokan
Warrior's War 1 tournament where Hughes caught a knee to the
face.
Matt's title bouts with Carlos Newton are the stuff legends are made of. One might feel Hughes got the biggest gift of his career at UFC 34. During an exchange at the side of the cage both Hughes and then champion Newton were both knocked out when they hit the canvas. The mysterious "first one to regain consciousness wins" rule was in effect and Matt won the title. However, Hughes left no question as to whether he was the champion in the rematch, stopping Newton with strikes late in the fourth round at UFC 38 in England.
The bout with Sean Sherk was a fight people wanted to see for more than a year. Hughes dominated the first two rounds with good takedowns, positioning and opened a big cut over Sherk's right eye. Sherk got two takedowns in round three and landed some strikes on the feet, opening a cut over Hughes' right eye. The fourth round was dominated by Hughes again, throwing sharp elbows from the mat. Not only did Sean lose the decision but as a slap in the face, Zuffa terminated his contract.
Frank Trigg scored an easy takedown to open the bout with Hughes. Matt eventually slammed Frank and Trigg worked an armlock from his back. They were constantly working to establish control of one another and the advantage changes rapidly. Hughes eventually got Trigg's back and establishes the rear-choke. Trigg tapped as he fell toward the floor in an exciting finish.
In the title bout with BJ Penn, Hughes attempt at an armlock late in the round allowed Penn to seize Matt's back. Rather than defend against the choke, Hughes worked on Penn's legs and it allowed BJ to sink the choke for the win. And against Renato Verissimo, Matt won a unanimous decision that left some fans scratching their heads.
ST. PIERRE: Georges "Rush" St. Pierre is a Canadian-born jiu-jitsu fighter, Muay Thai fighter and wrestler, as well as the current TKO Canadian welterweight champion. He trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Renzo Gracie purple belt Angelo Exarhakos, boxing coach Howard Grant, Muay Thai coaches Conrad Plad and Victor Vargotzky, fighters David Loiseau, Steve Vigneault and other athletes under TKO Management. Georges sports an 8-0 record in MMA.
St. Pierre was first exposed to martial arts was as a young boy when a confrontation with a larger classmate went poorly and he realized the importance of being able to defend himself. Prior to his UFC debut, all of his MMA experience had taken place in Canada at the Universal Combat Challenge which now operates as TKO. In his debut at UCC 7 he punished tough Ivan Menjivar and stopped the world super lightweight title contender in the first round with strikes.
Georges returned to UCC 10 to claim the Canadian welterweight championship from Justin Bruckmann via armbar. At UCC 11, Georges defended his title by stopping Travis Galbraith with strikes early in their bout. He actually picked up Galbraith's head and dropped it on the mat several times, rendering Travis virtually unconscious. At UCC 12, Georges faced Thomas Denny, controlling the pace with his superior takedowns and ground skills and stopping him in the second round.
The bout that landed St. Pierre on the UFC 46 card left Pete Spratt off of it. From the bell St. Pierre had little trouble bringing Spratt down. Spratt was caught in a choke and though he stood up, he couldn't shake him. Pete fell backwards to the ground tapping ala Trigg-Hughes. Both of St. Pierre's UFC bouts were impressive. He dominated Karo Parisyan. St. Pierre showed his skills early as he avoided Parisyan's submission attempts and controlled the action on the mat. He was even more effective with his punches and elbows in the second round, opening cuts over both eyes and took a unanimous decision victory in his UFC debut. He also made short work of wrestler Jay Hieron at UFC 48.
MY PICK: I'm going with the upset. St. Pierre has shown some fire in the cage and may be able to catch Matt off guard. I never would've said that a year ago as Matt completely dominated his division. Hughes seemed relieved when he lost the title and has not fought an "easy fight" since 2001. Sherk pushed him, Penn beat him and Verissimo roused him. The opportunity to underestimate St. Pierre is there. Elbows on the canvas will come into play. St. Pierre by TKO (stoppage from cuts) in round two.
HUGHES: Matt Hughes is a two-time Junior College All-American, two-time NCAA All-American, Extreme Challenge 21 and 29 tournament winner and former UFC welterweight champion. He trains with Jeremy Horn, Tim Sylvia, Tony Fryklund, Pat Miletich and the rest of Miletich Fighting Systems with a record of 34-4 in MMA.
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Matt's title bouts with Carlos Newton are the stuff legends are made of. One might feel Hughes got the biggest gift of his career at UFC 34. During an exchange at the side of the cage both Hughes and then champion Newton were both knocked out when they hit the canvas. The mysterious "first one to regain consciousness wins" rule was in effect and Matt won the title. However, Hughes left no question as to whether he was the champion in the rematch, stopping Newton with strikes late in the fourth round at UFC 38 in England.
With Hayato Sakurai at
UFC 36, Hughes dominated the entire bout. Sakurai had not fought
inside a cage before and had a hard time defending against Hughes'
elbows. Sakurai caught Hughes with one good punch that momentarily
stunned him, but the rest of the bout was a series of slams by
Matt. In the fourth round, Hughes finished Sakurai with strikes
against the fence.
The bout with Sean Sherk was a fight people wanted to see for more than a year. Hughes dominated the first two rounds with good takedowns, positioning and opened a big cut over Sherk's right eye. Sherk got two takedowns in round three and landed some strikes on the feet, opening a cut over Hughes' right eye. The fourth round was dominated by Hughes again, throwing sharp elbows from the mat. Not only did Sean lose the decision but as a slap in the face, Zuffa terminated his contract.
Frank Trigg scored an easy takedown to open the bout with Hughes. Matt eventually slammed Frank and Trigg worked an armlock from his back. They were constantly working to establish control of one another and the advantage changes rapidly. Hughes eventually got Trigg's back and establishes the rear-choke. Trigg tapped as he fell toward the floor in an exciting finish.
In the title bout with BJ Penn, Hughes attempt at an armlock late in the round allowed Penn to seize Matt's back. Rather than defend against the choke, Hughes worked on Penn's legs and it allowed BJ to sink the choke for the win. And against Renato Verissimo, Matt won a unanimous decision that left some fans scratching their heads.
ST. PIERRE: Georges "Rush" St. Pierre is a Canadian-born jiu-jitsu fighter, Muay Thai fighter and wrestler, as well as the current TKO Canadian welterweight champion. He trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Renzo Gracie purple belt Angelo Exarhakos, boxing coach Howard Grant, Muay Thai coaches Conrad Plad and Victor Vargotzky, fighters David Loiseau, Steve Vigneault and other athletes under TKO Management. Georges sports an 8-0 record in MMA.
St. Pierre was first exposed to martial arts was as a young boy when a confrontation with a larger classmate went poorly and he realized the importance of being able to defend himself. Prior to his UFC debut, all of his MMA experience had taken place in Canada at the Universal Combat Challenge which now operates as TKO. In his debut at UCC 7 he punished tough Ivan Menjivar and stopped the world super lightweight title contender in the first round with strikes.
Georges returned to UCC 10 to claim the Canadian welterweight championship from Justin Bruckmann via armbar. At UCC 11, Georges defended his title by stopping Travis Galbraith with strikes early in their bout. He actually picked up Galbraith's head and dropped it on the mat several times, rendering Travis virtually unconscious. At UCC 12, Georges faced Thomas Denny, controlling the pace with his superior takedowns and ground skills and stopping him in the second round.
The bout that landed St. Pierre on the UFC 46 card left Pete Spratt off of it. From the bell St. Pierre had little trouble bringing Spratt down. Spratt was caught in a choke and though he stood up, he couldn't shake him. Pete fell backwards to the ground tapping ala Trigg-Hughes. Both of St. Pierre's UFC bouts were impressive. He dominated Karo Parisyan. St. Pierre showed his skills early as he avoided Parisyan's submission attempts and controlled the action on the mat. He was even more effective with his punches and elbows in the second round, opening cuts over both eyes and took a unanimous decision victory in his UFC debut. He also made short work of wrestler Jay Hieron at UFC 48.
MY PICK: I'm going with the upset. St. Pierre has shown some fire in the cage and may be able to catch Matt off guard. I never would've said that a year ago as Matt completely dominated his division. Hughes seemed relieved when he lost the title and has not fought an "easy fight" since 2001. Sherk pushed him, Penn beat him and Verissimo roused him. The opportunity to underestimate St. Pierre is there. Elbows on the canvas will come into play. St. Pierre by TKO (stoppage from cuts) in round two.
