Boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler said it best: “It’s hard to get up and do roadwork when you’re wearing silk pajamas.” And though it’s pretty safe to say that there aren’t any silk pajamas in Matt Hughes’ closet, it’s clear that at 35 years old, and after 50 fights, 43 wins, seven losses, and two reigns as the UFC welterweight champion, sometimes motivation isn’t the easiest thing to come by.
That is until he knew he would be fighting Matt Serra in the UFC 98 co-main event this Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The motivation came pretty easy after that, and it was just what the doctor ordered for the pride of Hillsboro, Illinois.
“That’s really important for a guy like me because I’ve fought so many times that it gets to be the same thing over and over,” he explains. “So fighting a guy that I know and like, like when I fought Sean Sherk (in 2003), who’s a good Midwestern kid, you just don’t get up for those fights like you would for somebody like Matt Serra, who has said the things that he’s said. I’m gonna say it’s my age, I’m 35, and I’m also gonna say it’s my experience, but with those two things, I really like to have something to give me some motivation to train.”
He’s got it, whether it’s answering questions about a streak that has seen him drop two fights in a row and three of his last four, or silencing the brash New Yorker who hasn’t been shy over the last couple years when it comes to directing verbal barbs at his Ultimate Fighter coaching rival. This is a good ol’ fashioned grudge match, one that Hughes hasn’t been involved in since he battled Frank Trigg in 2003 and 2005, and it seems to be doing him good, as he sounds a lot more animated than he has in a while. But don’t get him wrong – while he believes he will beat Serra, he’s not taking him lightly.
“I think people are overlooking Serra’s ground game,” said Hughes of the jiu-jitsu black belt. “That’s what brought him to the UFC, so he’s obviously got some big credentials on the ground, and he also knocked out GSP (Georges St-Pierre) on the feet, so he’s obviously good there too.”
The clash of styles makes this an interesting battle, to say the least. Serra has proven with his knockout of St-Pierre in 2007 and his near knockout of Karo Parisyan in 2005 that he has dynamite in his fists, and his ground skills are world-class, despite the fact that he hasn’t submitted an opponent since Kelly Dullanty in 2002. Hughes, on the other hand, has admitted to falling in love with his standup game in the past and he paid for it, but on the mat, he has few peers when it comes to ground and pound. And Hughes is clear when he says that if he does get Serra in a bad position, there will be no hesitation when it comes to lowering the boom.
“I’m gonna let the referee do his job and I’m gonna do my job, and my job is to go in there and win and pretty much throw punches until that referee deems that I’ve done enough damage and he stops the fight,” he said. “Like they tell us, you don’t stop until the ref tells you to stop, so I’m gonna abide by that.”
Call it the “old” Matt Hughes when it comes to mindset, and not an old Matt Hughes, as some have suggested after his recent run of bad luck in the Octagon. Of course, consider that Hughes’ last three losses have come to St-Pierre (twice) and number one contender Thiago Alves, and that in the last two defeats, he took on St-Pierre and Alves on short notice. Those factors count for a lot, but even more telling to Hughes is that his training camp for the Serra fight - which has included work with Sean Sherk, Jeremy Horn and his usual gang of stalwarts like Robbie Lawler – has shown him that without question, he’s still got “it.”
“I’ve really done good with who I’ve trained with,” said Hughes. “When I know I can train with everybody I’ve trained with and I’m keeping right up with them or maybe beating them, then I know that I’m right where I need to be. My last two haven’t gone my way, but one was GSP, the top welterweight right now, and one was the guy who’s gonna face him next, so if Thiago becomes the world champion, I haven’t lost to anyone who wasn’t a world titleholder in a long time. So people can say whatever they want, and whatever they say really doesn’t bother me. Number one, I don’t read a lot off the internet, and number two, if they don’t like me, my style, or what I stand for, that’s fine. That’s the way the world is and everybody’s different.”
And in the world of pro sports, all it takes is one win and all is forgiven. Not that Hughes worries about that. As he explains, “When I’m not training for a fight, I’m usually with my family, on the farm, or doing something that’s not fight related.” Being away from the family isn’t the worst part of a long training camp though. The worst part is an obvious one.
“That’s an easy one to answer” he laughs. “It’s definitely the bumps and bruises. If you train properly, the fight’s typically pretty easy. Most of my bumps and bruises come from proper training. It’s not the fights that wear your body down. It’s all the training you do to prepare.”
Matt Hughes still loves to fight though, and it’s why he puts up with everything surrounding it and why he makes the sacrifices he does.
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