Matt Hughes is a legend of the fighting game. Because of that, he’s earned the right to decide when he walks away from the sport for good.
But as Hughes told MMAjunkie.com prior to taping last night’s episode of UFC Tonight, the decision is isn’t up to him. It’s not even up to his wife, who has repeatedly told Hughes over the previous 12 months that she’d like her husband to retire and come home to the farm.
“She wants me to retire from fighting so fighting doesn’t retire me,” Hughes said.
That’s not the way she put it, he adds. Somebody else told him that, but the point is the same. She gets worried and doesn’t want to see her husband hurt.
“And I see where she’s coming from,” Hughes said. “She didn’t grow up like I did. She’s a city girl, not rough at all. I grew up on a farm with a twin brother. We grew up beating each other up.”
The decision rests with UFC President Dana White, Hughes said. White has noted in the past that he’d like Hughes to retire soon, but Hughes said the decision hasn’t been made and that he hasn’t heard from White regarding the end of his career.
“I’m at a crossroads between fighting another fight or retirement,” he said, adding that a decision will come “soon.” “I’m 38, and I keep getting older, and the fighters keep staying the same age. I wanted the fall and spring off, and now it’s time to talk with DW.”
I’ve heard rumblings that Hughes may be slotted for a fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama later in the summer. If that’s the case, it would be a great fight for both men. Akiyama probably should’ve been cut already, but the UFC likes guys who go out there and put on exciting fights, and that weighs heavily in his favor.
A loss to Hughes would certainly spell the end of his UFC run, though.
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