Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes talks about the UFC today, compared to how it was during his time.
Prior to the monumental television deal that was signed in 2011, the UFC did not put up the same number of events per year that it does today. Back then, pay-per-view cards were held every couple of months, while the smaller shows happened less often.
It was a time when the likes of Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and Matt Hughes were the poster boys of the promotion. In his appearance on Undeniable with Joe Buck, Hughes talked about how it was during his UFC run, which he considered as the “golden age” of the promotion.
“I am so happy the timing worked out for me where I fought when I did,” Hughes said, who fought in the UFC from 2001-2011, and spent four of those years as welterweight champion. “I really think that I fought in the golden age. It was when people got together to watch the UFC.”
Hughes believes the weekly events that the UFC holds nowadays made it “too commercial” for its own good, that it lost a bit of the luster that it had during his time.
“I think it’s too commercial,” Hughes said. “They’ve got fights darn near every week (on) one of the three channels that they’re on. I think it’s too commercial.”
“They’re so often now, they’re just not as special.”
Video of his interview can be seen at the top of the page.