On a gray dreary February day in Atlantic City, I had the opportunity to converse with UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
Matt is quite a gentleman, very articulate and very open. My job was easy we had a very candid conversation, which reads as follows. First all if you could tell us about your background, what got you into MMA?
What got me into MMA is my competitiveness, I wrestled through high school through college and when I got done wrestling in college I needed some way to vent my competitiveness and this was just kind of the next step. I had a friend, who was doing this, small time, so I started with him. He kind of sought me out to train because of my wrestling background and when I became better than him, well then I said to myself, I need to compete a little bit.
So one thing led into another, did some small shows and that led me to Monte Cox my manager and Pat Miletich my trainer. After meeting those two guys my career soared.

Q: So tell us when did you start MMA, at what age?

Hughes: I'm twenty-nine now, so twenty-four or twenty-five.

Q: And at what age did you start wrestling?

Hughes: I started as a freshman in high school.

Q: Really? So your not a "child of wrestling!"

Huges: No, I didn't do it then.

Q: What state are you from?

Hughes: Illinois.

Q: How is the wrestling over there in Illinois?

Hughes: Pretty tough! Pretty tough Illinois. Our state has two champions in each weight class, a big school and a small school. A lot of other states have like four maybe. Illinois is a big state.
 
Q: What was your record in high school?

Hughes: My last two years I was undefeated. I had about ninety wins in a row. My overall record was about one hundred and fifty five and nine, I had quite a few losses my freshman year.

Q:But that's very impressive considering it was you first year wrestling.

Hughes: Yeah, but I've got a twin brother so, that brings a lot of wrestling into the game without having had wrestled a lot, it happens when you've got somebody to compete with your whole life.

Q:Did you also indulge in freestyle, or did you do purely high school rules, and then go in to the college scene?

Hughes: I did scholastic, which is the high school rules and then I also dabbled in a little bit of Greco-Roman and a little bit of freestyle. Not enough though.

Q: Did you also indulge in freestyle, or did you do purely high school rules, and then go in to the college scene?

Hughes: I did scholastic, which is the high school rules and then I also dabbled in a little bit of Greco-Roman and a little bit of freestyle. Not enough though.  
I lived on a farm and the freestyle and the Greco was more in the summer. When you're on a farm, you have to work during the summer, so I didn't get to do that a whole lot!

Q: Where did you go to college?

Hughes: I went to Eastern Illinois University. I went to junior college, and was a two-time All-American. Then I went to Eastern Illinois division one and was a two-time All-American there. I was also a high school All-American.

Q: Five time All-American, impressive! I saw your match against Carlos Newton, which was very controversial, I wanted to ask you a question about that. When you brought him down, when you slammed him, where you about to go out, where you out?

Hughes: Oh Yeah! If you look at the tape, I took two steps back and I slammed him down. Then after he hit the ground, I'm definitely dazed! I mean he's got that triangle on. Some people thought maybe I went out because of us hitting the mat. Well, my head was cushioned against his stomach. What took me out was his triangle. I mean I just remember that I'm sitting up, I'm trying to shake it off; and I just can't remember what's going on I mean I know Carlos is there and this and that, but it's just all a daze. It's like when you go out somewhere and spin in a circle ten or fifteen times, you just don't know where you are.

Q: I know what you're saying, disoriented.

Hughes: Yes very much so!

Q: Your second match with Carlos was stopped. Tell us about it.

Hughes: Actually, Carlos told them to stop it; it was a verbal submission. Things just went well for me, I had a good fight, and he had a bad fight.

Q: Carlos is an interesting fighter not only technically, but in that he fights all over the place.....

Hughes: Yes, as a matter of fact do you know who he's fighting in the next Pride show? (I mumble incoherently trying to respond.) He fights Anderson Silva.

Q: Oh sure! (I pretend to suddenly remember) That's a good match up. Anderson Silva is very tough. What do you think of this Chute Boxe Academy? They're mixing Jiu-jitsu, Muy Thai, keeping up a tremendous pace, constant movement. These guys never stop. You've got Wanderlei, Anderson, Murilo Ninja,

Hughes: Pele. Yeah, those guys……. you've got to watch them, they're all over the place.
Not so much on the ground because you can neutralize them so much on the ground. But standing, their so deadly with their knees, their elbows, their kicks their punches. They're deadly guys, they really are. You've got to get them off their feet.
I don't know anybody that can stand with them.

Q: Maybe it's that Brazilian Futbol! (I make a bad joke!)
What are you concentrating on now as far as your fighting techniques?

Hughes: Striking! Definitely striking. I've found that it's a love for me. I just like to go in and spar, and hit people. I've got a couple of KO's there in the gym. It's just a good feeling to go out there and hit somebody, and they fall down. I just like it.

Q: It's good for the fans as well, it's a shock to see somebody go down.

Hughes: Yes, correct. The entertainment aspect is definitely there.

Q: Do think that wrestling, because of the take down, and wrestlers do control that aspect ...

Hughes: Yes, offensively and defensively...

Q: Right, the wrestlers know how to ride, but many wrestlers are having problems finishing of other fighters unless it's with the ground and pound or stacking them against the corner of the cage. How do feel about the Jiu-jitsu game, versus wrestling? Do you appreciate both, are you cross training?

Hughes: Yes, definitely. I like Jiu-jitsu. We cross train everywhere in the gym, as far as Jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and striking go. You're definitely right, wrestlers have that tendency to grab on, hold tight and not give position away. Even if it's just going for an arm bar, you're giving position away!
You're going for an ankle lock or knee bar, you're giving position away!
Wrestlers don't want to do that. You're right, the wrestlers want to hold, and ground and pound, just like me.

Q: Do you feel comfortable going onto your back? Does it feel right? It's a wrestlers instinct, an ingrained discipline to stay off your back.  

Hughes: Every time I start in the gym I go on my back. It's one thing that's never bothered me.

Q: You train with Jeremy Horn don't you? He's an impressive Jiu-jitsu technician.

Hughes: Impressive puts it mildly. Everything I know I've learned from somebody or somebody's told me or taught me, and Jeremy can't say that because Jeremy can watch two people wrestle and go. "Well you know what, you put your hips here, you put your arm here, and let's see what you come up with." He can invent moves. He's just that type of guy, he's great for the gym.

Q: What is Pat Miletich up to?

Hughes: He had a fight last November, right after my show, November twenty third. He hurt his neck, so he had to pull out of that show. Now he's still nursing his neck back to fighting shape. There's a chance he might not fight anymore because of his neck. He might concentrate more in the fight training aspect, but that would be a big loss, he's got a lot to give. He's got great stand-up and wrestling.

Q: Now what's coming up for you as far as MMA fights?

Hughes: I'm fighting in UFC 42 in Miami. And I am fighting Sean Sherk who is undefeated.

Q: What about Japan, would you like fight there, have any offers come up from there?

Hughes: Japan for what?

Q: Pride FC. Bigger money fights.

Hughes: The UFC treats me great, I've got no complaints with the way they treat me.
As far as saying hey UFC, I'm going over to PRIDE, no I'd never do it. I don't care what the money is. I'm a very loyal person, and I would never trade just for money. Now say I put a couple losses together, and the UFC no longer wants me, and PRIDE would pick me up, sure I would go fight for PRIDE. I've fought in Japan three times and I loved it. I loved the fans in Japan.

Q: Which events where they?

Hughes: I fought Gono in Shooto, and I fought Chris Haseman from Australia in RINGS. And my last fight was also in RINGS against (Hiromitsu) Kanehara. So I've fought two RINGS fights in Japan and three here in the States. Kanehara was, I think my last fight before I came to the UFC and beat Carlos.

Q: I think that Japan would love to see you in Pride. I would like to see you fight in the ropes, a different environment. It's gonna affect what goes on in the fight.

Hughes: Oh yeah. I would think that Sakurai would like to fight me in the ropes too. You know, that cage played such a big role in that fight.

Q: Who else would you like to fight in Japan?

Hughes: I would fight, Renzo Gracie. I would love to fight Renzo Gracie. I would fight Sakuraba. Anybody around that one hundred and eighty-five weight class. Anymore over that or around one hundred ninety five, it's kind of getting out of where I would like to fight someone, but I probably still would. Now anybody two hundred and over... When I fought Kanehara in Rings, I think he weighed around two hundred. You know, if I win a couple more events here at one seventy, I might go up to one eighty-five. Dana really wants me to. That's all he talks about.

Q: (I choke on another question, I don't want to waste this mans time) Ahhmm.
Anything that you would like to tell us?

Hughes: I'm having a good time fighting for the UFC. I fight three or four times a year. Which isn't really enough for me. If I could, If I had my choice I would fight every other month, or every month. I'm like Jeremy Horn. I like to fight that's why I'm here.

We shake hands, I say thanks. We pose for a snap shot. click!