Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie to fight in Abu Dhabi UFC event
After the UFC 107 press conference held Thursday, UFC president Dana White hinted at a possible match-up between Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie, coming soon.
Shortly thereafter, Hughes confirmed on his website that the fight would happen. He posted:
I didn’t know if I could say anything about my next fight, but I see that Dana has let the cat out of the bag. So I can tell you what I know, on April 10th I will be fighting Renzo Gracie in Abu Dhabi. I haven’t signed any paperwork and I don’t think Renzo has either; but I think this fight is going to happen. That’s all I know, serious training will start for me at the new year.
Hughes, the former welterweight champion, is coming off a decision victory over Matt Serra at UFC 98. The future hall of famer has gone 2-2 in his past four bouts, losing three consecutive to Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves, respectively.
Renzo, who hasn’t fought since 2007, is riding a three fight win streak over Frank Shamrock, Pat Miletich, and Carlos Newton. The Brazilian will be making his first appearance inside the Octagon, and will mark the return of the legendary Gracie clan.
In addition to the news about the fight, Hughes also let the cat out of the bag about the rumored UFC venture into Abu Dhabi. Not only does his website post confirm the location of the event, but also the set date of April 10th 2010.
Jason Polley is is a contributor to FiveOuncesofPain.com
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Hopefully Renzo has a better showing against Hughes than Royce did. Other than not tapping to a nasty looking Kimura, Royce did not impress.
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Hopefully Renzo walks away with a w here. He has much better hands than Royce but unfortunatly I dont think he will be able to surprise Hughes much with his suubmissions as Hughes is pretty good at defending them. Should be a good fight though.
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Aww lets go get in the old time machine. Because it was around 2004 when I would have cared about this fight. I guess Dana’s keeping Hughes around to take a trip down memory lane
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agreed WarCry but i will most likely end up watching it.
Hughes will end up taken it
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Hey Dana, Instead of taking the UFC on world tour why dont you try stopping at some of the cities in the United States that actually pay and support the UFC…..How many PPV buys is Abu Dhabi worth every month?
You can start in Chicago where you still owe us a Main Event after that Anderson Silva Train Wreck!
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Whinge, whinge, whinge MacBatty. Try living in Perth, Western Australia, the most isolated city on earth. Admittedly the UFC is coming to Sydney next year but even that is a 9 hour flight from here on the other side of the nullarbor plain and you’ve actually been at an event live…..lucky bastard. Alright now I’ve finished my rant onto the fight.
Here’s hoping Renzo destroys this school yard bully and finally runs him out of the UFC. Sure he is one of the all time greats but I just don’t like the guy, so it’d be great to see him get his arse handed to him on a plate.
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I still want to watch this fight. I think its really go to tell where hughes is at. Renzo put away Pat not along that long ago with ease. Renzo looks young so this should be a good fight to watch.
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That doesn’t sound so bad. I had plane tickets and a dive job in Perth last year, but i fell off a building a few weeks before i was gonna go. I would take that over watching TV….
Just sayin’…
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How the hell did you fall off a building? Drunken mishap? Sleepwalking accident? Hopefully something hilarious. If not that sucks…..but we still get stuff all UFC. We don’t even get the bloody K1 Grand Prix for christ’s sake.
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What building was it by the way? Anything famous?
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Damn it ! I got thumbs down again for my typing… gotta be. It’s going to be a good fight. Renzo beat Carlos Newton 2 ok.. almost 3 years ago and I am sure Carlos would still give Matt Problems even though he sucks. I think Matt is going to take it but I am sure that Renzo Can stand with Matt …heck . . anyone can. Renzo will do more than ok on the ground I mean shoot .. Little Matt Sera gave Hughes a run for it. I know Sera is a Jitsu World Champ. Matt is for surely stonger than Renzo……….
Ahhh heck. Renzo wins by Decision. Whoop whoop!! Just because I am tired of seeing Matt and his shitty stand up. 50 fights and he still can’t hit anyone LMAO.
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I’m more excited to see the UFC expand into another country, then I am for this fight. It will be interesting, and the fans in Abu Dhabi will definitly appreciate the grappling in this one. As UFC continues its world wide expansion, they will have more shows around the world, but they still have more in the US then the rest of the World combined, because that is where 80% of their revenue comes from.
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Weak-Sauce.
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How come every thread I read concerning this fight, whoever is writing the article states that the Gracie family is coming back to the UFC. Do the writers not know that Rolles Gracie Jr. is fighting at UFC 109. I would think he would be the first Gracie to fight in the UFC since Royce.
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It’s a sad and funny story.
In fairness though, i live in Vancouver and can’t get most of what SF shows because it is on Showtime and WEC recently dropped off TSN2 where i used to be able to watch it and the we’ve lost a few others to.
We went from getting MMA every couple nights to getting UFC events and SF on CBS, and that’s about it except when watching online.
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actually Matt Hughes is 2-2 in his last 4 beating Serra and Lytle and losing to GSP and Alves, Not 1-3 as the article says.
Yep, you’re right. Thanks saerbarnet – Staff
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I’d love surf west oz. It looks sooooo good!!
But I digress; unless Matt Hughes has improved his striking game by leaps and bounds, I don’t want to see him fight. I hope Gracie can inspire Matt to dedicate more time to farming.
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Ah well mate hopefully you make it to perth one day….the buildings aren’t that big here.
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South west Oz is definitely tops that’s for sure Margaret River, Smith’s Beach, Yallingup the list is endless, get down here for summer the party season is huge!
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