As with any (fan) judgement of a fight, I think you should watch at least a few times, on home, on tape to make a real call as to your opinions of the fight.
The first time I saw Hughes/Charuto at the bar, I thought it was close and could go either way (but thought Hughes would get the benefit of the doubt in a close decision - which would happen for Charuto too in Hawaii or Brazil, I dont think anyone can argue that).
Anyhow, here's what I saw when watching it again:
ROUND 1: All Charuto, definately Charuto, as any MMA fan could tell but I dont think it was enough for a 10-8 round as some suggested. A 10-8 is a utter domination where we have the guy almost KO'ed on a few occasions of almost have the guy submitted on a few occasions. Charuto had ONE close submission that round and although was on the offensive more than Hughes, I definately would NOT give it a 10-8 by any means.
ROUND 2: I said this before and most of us agreed that this is the make or break round for the fight as Hughes def. outworked Charuto in Round 3. First off, this was a CLOSE round and the type that was up more the opinion that a clear round imo. The second time I watched, I though Charuto. But then the 3rd time, I leaned toward Hughes more which means that it was very close and not so definative. If I were a judge, I probably would have scored it (and the fight) a DRAW (not definitive by either fighter).
ROUND 3: Though, for comparisons sake, I would say that Charuto had the better round in winning round 1 than Hughes round 3, the scoring dont work like that unfortunately. ITS A 10 POINT MUST remember?
Hughes got the takedowns and what everyone overlooked on the pro-Charuto side is that Hughes worked for and got, on many occasions thru the fight, halfguard. Now, he did not do much with it but for all those pro-Charuto supporters who were looking at the fight thru a BJJ/sub-wrestling aspect, Hughes got the takedown and progressed to side mount on many times throughout the fight. In round 3, Charuto def. also decreased in offensive output ( I would argue he didnt do anything in round 3) and Hughes got some minimal but still was on the offensive with GNP and the kimura attempt (which wasnt as good as Charuto's triangle but is still a submission attempt that Charuto had to escape or would count as a 'catch' in Pride).
What I and I think many also missed was that Hughes cut Charuto with an elbow I think and on the slo-mo replay they showed, Charuto def. had blood in his mouth and on maybe on his eye (but not 100% sure about the eye cut). Now that doesnt mean Charuto was getting worked but it def. means that Hughes was on the offensive and connected with some of his GNP which again, the pro-Charuto side claimed Hughes did NOT connect with one punch throughout the fight.
CONCLUSION: I could watch ROUND 2 10 more times and might score it differently 5 times. I would have no problem with Charuto winning that round but I dont see Hughes winning it as a bad call either. The thing that pisses me off is how people screamed "ROBBERY!!" which is ridiculous because it came down to one round and a close round at that. A fight that comes down to ONE CLOSE ROUND is NOT A "ROBBERY!!!" either way it went.
What we CAN conclude though was that Charuto won the respect of fight fans and Matt Hughes aswell. Hughes himself said it was a close fight and that he was def. impressed by Charuto. That was Charuto's 5th or 6th MMA fight only which makes in all the more impressive but still all of the above does not make Charuto the clear cut winner.
All the people who argue that Charuto was impressive in beating up Carlos Newton are right, that was dam impressive but by comparion, Hughes FINISHED Newton in their rematch to all those who whine about Hughes being boring and not a finisher (Hughes was the first and still only fighter to put away Mach Sakurai aswell).