I really enjoyed this so I thought I'd share. For some reason this is the first interview I didn't mind listening to him, enjoy.
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It sure seems like a good time to be Matt Hughes these days. What’s that you say? Hughes lost his UFC welterweight title in devastating fashion less than a year ago?
True enough, but there’s a lot more to Hughes’ situation as it stands at the moment and he’s been more active since his loss than his one fight against Chris Lytle last March would suggest. Challenger Hughes has put himself in the driver’s seat in interesting fashion, namely by angering just about every other top welterweight in the division.
From Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez, to former champions Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn and most importantly title holder Matt Serra, whom Hughes will square up against as an opposing coach on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) premiering next Wednesday on Spike TV after the UFC Fight Night card, the long time champion has no shortage of tough guys wanting to take him out. Characteristically, Hughes chuckles with satisfaction at the notion that just about every top welterweight in the world is gunning for him.
“(Laughing)You know, yeah, I feel like I have a target on my back. If you look at the life of the UFC welterweight title, there have just been two champions who have [successfully] defended the belt; (long time Hughes coach) Pat Miletich and Matt Hughes. Pat's retired and doesn't fight anymore and here I am the only one to defend and still be fighting. In Carlos Newton, BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre you have three champs that never defended their belts. And people are starting to realize how hard it is to defend the championship and they are looking to the person around that has defended it and lucky to say, it’s me” says Hughes.
But with all eyes and guns aimed at him, Hughes still holds the disaffection of a man used to being at the top.
“It's one of those things [where] I don't care. I know Koscheck has been talking a lot too. But he talked a lot before fighting St. Pierre as well about his wrestling ability and what he thought. He talked a big game about out-wrestling St. Pierre but to be honest, Georges whooped him in every aspect of the fight, especially wrestling (during St. Pierre’s unanimous decision win over Koscheck at UFC 74 on August 25th). There are two types of people in the world; talkers and doers. I hope I'm not a talker and that I am a doer. I think Georges is a doer. I can go on about who I think is a talker and not a doer but I won’t” Hughes says.
Hughes gives the man who beat him for the title last November, St. Pierre, credit but many fans have criticized him for what appeared to be mean spirited gloating on the part of Hughes after St. Pierre was upset last April by Matt Serra. Hughes, who was in Houston, Texas to watch UFC 69 and the title match was captured on camera laughing gleefully with lightweight champion Sean Sherk after Serra scored his improbable TKO win over St. Pierre. Hughes also threw in a couple emphatic “I love it” proclamations once he realized the camera was on him.
Despite the appearance that Hughes was celebrating the devastating loss of the man who recently trounced him for the title, he clarifies that his enjoyment of the moment had nothing to do with St. Pierre.
“I was not laughing at Georges. I can set this straight now. Matt Serra had been talking about me before the fight ever since the TUF show he won. I wanted to fight Matt Serra and I never thought that would happen because I thought he would lose and then get sent back towards retirement. So I was excited and thought, 'I get to fight Matt Serra.' I never thought it was going to happen. Georges, don't take it the wrong way. I was laughing because I was getting what I wanted and it seems like I never get what I want. As a champion I never would get to pick opponents so I was finally getting to fight someone I wanted to. I was just thinking, 'I can't believe Serra got a lucky punch in.' Nine times out of ten I think St. Pierre knocks Matt Serra out” says Hughes.
Fair enough. But with that clarification Hughes is only putting out one fire by fanning another one. Hughes may respect St. Pierre but it sure doesn’t seem like he thinks much of Serra.
"I think he [Serra] got lucky against Georges. I don’t think he won that fight against Chris Lytle (on the TUF4 Finale), if anybody won. I would have thought it would go to one extra round, but they didn't. Is Chris Lytle in the top ten? I don't think he is. The only reason he [Serra] is, is because he won the title. His record is not much above .500, I think” Hughes says.
Serra’s overall MMA record currently stands at 9-4, about a 69 percent winning percentage but you get the sense that doesn’t really matter much to Hughes. Let’s be frank, things between Serra and Hughes seem personal at this point. Both have their respective achievements that are beyond reproach, but certain things about the other are just difficult to get beyond for each fighter. Take, for example, Serra’s repeated characterization of Hughes as a “Dick”.
Predictably, Hughes does not take kindly to the description and says that he feels Serra is a poor ambassador for the sport of MMA.
"It just shows me that he’s [Serra] kind of an idiot to be honest. Whether or not he likes it, young kids are looking up at him. And I'm sure he wants to have kids someday. What's he think about cussing on national TV? Is he going to say, 'Don’t do as I do, do as I say'? I just think it’s a terrible example to his children and the youth that are watching him. I've always tried to act as if there was a class of 5th graders in front of me when I'm being shown, for the most part. He's just not following that Golden Rule. He's pretty concerned about himself. I think he's got a small man complex where people don’t see him do he wants to make sure they hear him” says Hughes.
Its interesting then, that Hughes chose to take a second turn as a TUF coach, especially because he’d have to spend so much time around Serra. Hughes says he wasn’t initially interested but after a getting the green light from his family and lining up his assistant coaches for the show, Hughes decided to give it a go.
"[UFC President] Dana White called me up out of the blue and said, 'Hey I want you to do something for me.' I've always told Dana White that if he has something important he needs me to do to not have one of his assistants call me up, but to call me up himself. If Dana White calls me 99.9 percent of the time it gets done. So he told me, 'I want you to be the coach of TUF6 opposite Matt Serra' and my first thought was 'Ewww.' It would be a month and a half in Vegas with a guy I don't want to be around. The last time with Rich [Franklin. The UFC middleweight coached opposite Hughes on the second season of TUF] we had a good time together. I knew with Serra it would not be that way. I told him I was going to have to talk to my wife and family see what she says. If she doesn’t think it’s a good idea then I wouldn't do it. Well I talked to my wife and about two to three hours later I called Dana back and told him 'She says it’s a go so I can come out to Vegas.' It was also important for me to get the coaches I wanted and I got Matt Pena, Marc Fiore and Robbie Lawler. We headed out to Vegas June 6 [to film the season of TUF6], my wife came out July 3rd and we left July 16th” recounts Hughes.
And though Hughes was initially reluctant to do the show, he says it became the catalyst for something exceptional.
“Me, Marc, Robbie and Matt had so much fun doing the show that we decided to open up a gym in Illinois. We get along great. Marc Fiore was the Army Greco Roman Wrestling coach, Robbie is a great doer. It all came together and was a good combination. We've got nothing against Pat Miletich, we all love Pat. It's just about not having to drive three hours to train each way every day” explains Hughes.
Instead of having to drive three hours each way to reach Iowa and Team Miletich, the Illinois native Hughes will only have an hour drive to his new gym in Granite City, IL. and will get to spend more time with his family.
Hughes says his gym will be for fighters but will also accommodate those in the area simply looking to get a good workout in.
“We will have advanced classes for sure with pro fighters. But I have a lot of fun just teaching people who want to exercise and not compete. We've got some great sponsors. Hammer Strength has given us a bunch of equipment. We've got thirteen thousand square feet, a boxing ring, four thousand square feet of mat space with caged walls around to simulate the Octagon. I don't like cages in gyms because I think they are a waste of space. It's going to be a great place. Can there be somebody that lives down the road that wants to ride the bike? Sure but it will be a fighters' gym” he says.
The long time Team Miletich member says the project isn’t about attaching his name to something for the sake of it.
“I'm not big on my name but I know my name is going to sell. I'm excited just to coach and have a great facility and be closer to my family” Hughes says.
It seems that like Jens Pulver before him, coaching a season of the Ultimate Fighter has energized the teacher in Hughes and he’s ready to bring his brand of instruction to a new area, his own. And he says he’s learned some lessons from TUF 6 that he’ll carry with him.
"I had a great time. I had a great group of guys and coaches. It just worked out great for me” he says.
And as far as something new he picked up from the experience Hughes says, “If you don't know your guys you don’t know how to coach them, certain guys act differently.
Check back Friday for a conversation with Matt Serra!