The man use to be so dominant, and was the closest thing to unbeatable as you could get. He had a slip up against BJ Penn, but rebounded stronger. Then, he lost to Georges St Pierre twice, very badly. Matt Hughes has never looked that bad. He won a couple of fights in between, and then got tooled by Thiago Alves. What's the deal with Matt? It's not like he's got nagging injuries or that he has a lot of wear and tear. He's only in his early 30's. What is it? Has the game simply passed him up, much like he said about Royce? Are the guys just becoming too well rounded for him? Has he never adjusted his game to fight styles of today?
He had one too many country breakfasts!
Seriously though, I think he might be a little worn down, but I believe it's more of a case of his game remaining the same and the talent of 170 increasing. Wrestling was his bread and butter, but now there are bigger guys than him who can bully him around at will. I'd say his days of coaching are about to begin following his bout and probable TKO loss to Matt Serra by year's end.
If Matt Hughes retires on a three fight lose streak, that will be horrible.
Duncan Harcourt - The man use to be so dominant, and was the closest thing to unbeatable as you could get. He had a slip up against BJ Penn, but rebounded stronger. Then, he lost to Georges St Pierre twice, very badly. Matt Hughes has never looked that bad. He won a couple of fights in between, and then got tooled by Thiago Alves. What's the deal with Matt? It's not like he's got nagging injuries or that he has a lot of wear and tear. He's only in his early 30's. What is it? Has the game simply passed him up, much like he said about Royce? Are the guys just becoming too well rounded for him? Has he never adjusted his game to fight styles of today?
Did he really come back "stronger". I think he's been on a decline since losing to BJ Penn. After losing, he fought Charuto where he almost got submitted and argubly lost.
He beat a rookie GSP in a round he was losing until catching GSP with 1 second left in the round.
Ball shot or not he was losing the round to Trigg badly until making a strong comeback...but I wouldn't chalk that up as coming back "stronger" after the BJ fight.
He then beat a short notice Riggs which he really should have as well as Royce..which some people may not see as exactly top ranked compeition, depending on your defenition.
Gets completley tooled by BJ Penn until BJ tears his rib or gasses. Either way, it's Matt taking advantage of an injury or unpreparedness on BJ's part, not Matt getting better.
Gets beat up by GSP.
Very borning decision win over Lytle.
Then loses twice by stoppage...
So pretty much he was really never that good in the first place?
Duncan Harcourt - So pretty much he was really never that good in the first place?
I wouldn't say that.
I'd still say his heart in fights as well as his will to come back strong in a downhill battle and come up with a win surpasses most fighters today other than Nogueira maybe. Nate Diaz shows a little of this, but Matt has always shown this.
I still think he has mental components and aspects of his game that are ahead of many other fighters and can't be learned easily in modern MMA unless you're truly disciplined. I just think the new breed of young fighters are too much for him and he has possibly lost some of his youthful strength.
Duncan Harcourt - The man use to be so dominant, and was the closest thing to unbeatable as you could get. He had a slip up against BJ Penn, but rebounded stronger. Then, he lost to Georges St Pierre twice, very badly. Matt Hughes has never looked that bad. He won a couple of fights in between, and then got tooled by Thiago Alves. What's the deal with Matt? It's not like he's got nagging injuries or that he has a lot of wear and tear. He's only in his early 30's. What is it? Has the game simply passed him up, much like he said about Royce? Are the guys just becoming too well rounded for him? Has he never adjusted his game to fight styles of today?
The sport passed his one dimensional ass by.
who cares
GSP took his spirit.
Mad
He will beat Serra and retire.
It's been rumored for a long time that Matt isn't the most dilligent of fighters when it comes to training, but was able to survive and win because he had so much more heart than his opponents.
Now, he's older, he's got more going on than just fighting, and that heart might not be as into the game as it once was. You combine that with decreasing skills and better competition, you get a fighter who is very close to being done.
Madaptation - GSP took his spirit.
Mad
I agree 100% with that. He ran into a guy who got in his head and scared him. He will never be the same.
He's been competing at an elite level since his high school days. Thats goin on almost 20 years straight! He was a 2 time Illinois state champ in HS, a 2 time JUCO All American, a 2 time time Div 1 NCAA All American, stopped and worked/coached for a while and then got into MMA, where he's accumulated 50 fights or so, winning the UFC WW Title a couple times along the way. The game has changed. His body is shot. One day you wake up and your explosiveness is gone. Yeah he's in his mid 30's and still looks in great shape and Im sure he IS in great shape but when a guy like Hughes loses explosiveness, he doesnt have much else to fall back on. Hes alot older "fight-wise" than alot of guys who are older than him.