Former UFC title challenger and current commentator Dan Hardy talks about the potential for Matt Hughes to resume his fighting career.
UFC Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes may soon be back in an MMA cage, six years removed from his knockout loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 135. The former welterweight champion revealed to sports broadcaster Joe Buck that he’s considering a return to MMA competition, and hinted that he wants to rematch Bellator MMA’s Royce Gracie. No offers have been made by Bellator, but preliminary talks were made.
Prior to Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Anderson vs. Manuwa event in London, England, UFC commentator Dan Hardy was interviewed by WHOA TV and was asked for his thoughts on Hughes
“For a start, he’s an old man,” Hardy said. “He’s 43 now, so I don’t know how serious he is at this idea of a comeback. I don’t know how interested the UFC would be in signing an old man, as well. He also said that he would fight if he can find somebody he can beat, and I don’t know whether he thinks he can beat me, but I don’t see many people on the UFC roster that he would be able to beat, at the moment. Especially people that we would want to see him fight; we don’t want to see him fight any up-and-comers, it’s going to have to be a veteran, and he’s been out of the sport for a long time.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he signs with another organization and gets a couple of fun fights, and if he does, fair play to him,” Hardy continued. “I understand that urge and that drive. If he feels the need to fight, then I think he should, and I will watch as a fan. I always learned a lot from watching Matt Hughes. He’s a great wrestler, great ground-and-pound, in comparison to people in the sport now, Matt Hughes has still got some of the best ground-and-pound that we’ve ever seen. Like I said, I respect him as an athlete, and I would watch him fight again if he wanted to just out of intrigue, but I don’t think he needs to. I think he’s done everything he needs to in the sport.”
You can listen to the rest of the interview, which includes an update on Hardy’s own potential return to the sport, at the top of the page.