Heading into this weekend’s UFC in Abu Dhabi much of the focus has centered on the card’s two title fights, Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia and BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar. Makes sense, especially when you consider that both Silva and Penn reside near the top of the world’s P4P rankings (and certainly no one would look weird at you if you brought these guys up while talking GOAT at middleweight and lightweight, unless they didn’t understand that it’s short for Greatest Of All Time…).
Another of the more interesting bouts scheduled for UFC 112 is of course the welterweight tilt between former champ Matt Hughes (who is in the GOAT mix at 170lbs…again, see above) and jiu-jitsu guru Renzo Gracie. It’s an interesting match-up, not just because Hughes beat down Renzo’s cousin Royce, he’s also coming off a UD win over Matt Serra, one of Renzo’s top students. You may also recall that Serra and Hughes weren’t exactly chummy out of the cage either.
Despite this history neither Gracie nor Hughes have had too much to say in the way of smack talk heading into their tilt, case in point, this high praise from Matt towards Renzo courtesy UFC.com.
“I’ve always said that from the beginning – if you want to fight the best Gracie, you need to fight Renzo, and I still say that. He’s the best one carrying the name in my opinion.”
Wow. That’s quite the compliment; guess we shouldn’t be worried about any pre-fight fisticuffs at the weigh-ins Friday. To bet on the bout head here.