[jayyet]

From Matt Hughes Official Website - http://matt-hughes.com

"Matt Hughes is the 9-time World Welterweight Champion of the UFC. With a record of 43-5, Matt has traveled the world and has become a household name amongst mixed martial arts fans. He has proven time and time again that 'a country boy can survive.' However, it hasn’t always been like that for Hughes. You see, Matt comes from humble beginnings…"

As I see it he's 2 time WW Champ...

UFC Welterweight Division - 155 lbs. to 170 lbs.

UFC 31 05/04/2001 Carlos Newton DEFEATS Pat Miletich
UFC 34 11/02/2001 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 36 03/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Hayato Sakurai
UFC 38 07/13/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 40 11/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Gill Castillo
UFC 42 04/25/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Sean Sherk
UFC 45 11/21/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 46 01/31/2004 BJ Penn DEFEATS Matt Hughes
BJ Penn - stripped of the title for competing in a K-1 event
UFC 50 10/22/2004 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Georges St Pierre
UFC 52 04/16/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 56 11/19/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Joe Riggs
UFC 63 09/23/2006 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Bj Penn
UFC 65 11/18/2006 Georges St. Pierre DEFEATS Matt Hughes
UFC 69 04/07/2007 Matt Serra DEFEATS Georges St. Pierre

[CanadianTopTeam]

9 time defending champ.....not that big of a slip up...but yea..i guess it is a slip. No biggie

[stak]

Originally Posted by CanadianTopTeam

9 time defending champ.....not that big of a slip up...but yea..i guess it is a slip. No biggie

well in that case he would be a 7 time defending champ.

they, for some strange reason, consider in all of the defenses as well as the capturing of the title. The fight against Riggs was non-title when Riggs failed to make weight. Take that fight out of there, two times winning the belt + seven times defending= 9 time champ.

I don't know exactly what they're thinking with that logic but maybe someone else does.

[Aas Gutú Adéli]

He has won 9 title fights, maybe?
Creative accounting.

[Mans]

Makes perfect sense to me. Technically the belt is no longer yours when you enter the cage for a title fight. And he has left the cage with the belt 9 times.

[flyinhighagain9]

lol whos the white belt here.

[rodent]

how many defenses did frank shamrock have?

[AUSSIEMMAFAN]

Originally Posted by jayyet

From Matt Hughes Official Website - http://matt-hughes.com

"Matt Hughes is the 9-time World Welterweight Champion of the UFC. With a record of 43-5, Matt has traveled the world and has become a household name amongst mixed martial arts fans. He has proven time and time again that 'a country boy can survive.' However, it hasn’t always been like that for Hughes. You see, Matt comes from humble beginnings…"

As I see it he's 2 time WW Champ...

UFC Welterweight Division - 155 lbs. to 170 lbs.

UFC 31 05/04/2001 Carlos Newton DEFEATS Pat Miletich
UFC 34 11/02/2001 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 36 03/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Hayato Sakurai
UFC 38 07/13/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 40 11/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Gill Castillo
UFC 42 04/25/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Sean Sherk
UFC 45 11/21/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 46 01/31/2004 BJ Penn DEFEATS Matt Hughes
BJ Penn - stripped of the title for competing in a K-1 event
UFC 50 10/22/2004 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Georges St Pierre
UFC 52 04/16/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 56 11/19/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Joe Riggs
UFC 63 09/23/2006 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Bj Penn
UFC 65 11/18/2006 Georges St. Pierre DEFEATS Matt Hughes
UFC 69 04/07/2007 Matt Serra DEFEATS Georges St. Pierre

He also defended his belt 7 times so that makes him a 9 time champ is it really that hard to work outand as UFC give a new belt for every title fight he is a 9 time champ.

[mtnbyk]

Matt has said in the past that every time he walks into the ring it is to win the belt (while he still had it) so he considers all of his defenses as "winning the belt"

[BrokeTec]

Originally Posted by jayyet

From Matt Hughes Official Website - http://matt-hughes.com

"Matt Hughes is the 9-time World Welterweight Champion of the UFC. With a record of 43-5, Matt has traveled the world and has become a household name amongst mixed martial arts fans. He has proven time and time again that 'a country boy can survive.' However, it hasn’t always been like that for Hughes. You see, Matt comes from humble beginnings…"

As I see it he's 2 time WW Champ...

UFC Welterweight Division - 155 lbs. to 170 lbs.

UFC 31 05/04/2001 Carlos Newton DEFEATS Pat Miletich
UFC 34 11/02/2001 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 36 03/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Hayato Sakurai
UFC 38 07/13/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 40 11/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Gill Castillo
UFC 42 04/25/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Sean Sherk
UFC 45 11/21/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 46 01/31/2004 BJ Penn DEFEATS Matt Hughes
BJ Penn - stripped of the title for competing in a K-1 event
UFC 50 10/22/2004 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Georges St Pierre
UFC 52 04/16/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 56 11/19/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Joe Riggs
UFC 63 09/23/2006 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Bj Penn
UFC 65 11/18/2006 Georges St. Pierre DEFEATS Matt Hughes
UFC 69 04/07/2007 Matt Serra DEFEATS Georges St. Pierre

UFC 34 11/02/2001 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 36 03/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Hayato Sakurai
UFC 38 07/13/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Carlos Newton
UFC 40 11/22/2002 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Gill Castillo
UFC 42 04/25/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Sean Sherk
UFC 45 11/21/2003 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 46 01/31/2004 BJ Penn DEFEATS Matt Hughes
UFC 50 10/22/2004 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Georges St Pierre
UFC 52 04/16/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Frank Trigg
UFC 56 11/19/2005 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Joe Riggs
UFC 63 09/23/2006 Matt Hughes DEFEATS Bj Penn
UFC 65 11/18/2006 Georges St. Pierre DEFEATS Matt Hughes

All of the above are 5 round title fights (Except Riggs, but that's out of Hughes' controll).
So excluding his fight with Gracie and Charuto, 12 of his last 14 fights have been for the Title either winning or defending it.
In the list of 12 above, he's defended it 10 times, defended successfully 8 times, and won it twice, and lost it twice.