There is no doubt, along with Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn, Matt Hughes is one of the top three welterweights in MMA history. Now, he is 37 years old and scheduled to take on Josh Koscheck in UFC 135.
Koscheck was a late replacement for Diego Sanchez who was originally scheduled to battle Hughes but had to bow out after he broke his hand.
In a stretch from November of 2006 to June of 2008 it looked like Hughes legendary career should be coming to an end. During this time he lost three of four fights, two of those to St. Pierre.
Since then, Hughes has won three of four, though he lost his last fight almost a year ago to BJ Penn.
Hughes has flirted with retirement for about three years or so, this fight will be the one that makes the flirtation a commitment or at least it should. Hughes is a proud competitor so he may not want to leave on a losing note but I expect Koscheck to batter Hughes at UFC 135.
Koscheck himself is 33, so he isn’t a young up and coming fighter but he is younger and a world class wrestler. Lets face it, the wrestling background will help him hold his own against Hughes, who is perhaps the greatest wrestler ever at welterweight but it won’t win him the fight. The area where Koscheck should defeat Hughes is in the stand up game as a boxer.
Koscheck’s boxing skills are fairly advanced for a MMA fighter as he has displayed in KO victories over Frank Trigg and Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Koscheck hasn’t lost a fight to a fighter whose primary discipline is wrestling, even though Hughes is still elite in this area.
It is a fight that should happen for both fighters resumes. Hughes is already a legend and Koscheck needs a few marquee victories to take the next step in his MMA career. My prediction is that Koscheck gets that in a lopsided unanimous decision over Hughes.
Hopefully, Hughes will make this the last defeat of his illustrious career.
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