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.

Renzo Gracie

The news comes courtesy of a recent report from Brazilian mixed martial arts journalist Paula Sack in a recent video interview.

At forty-two years of age Renzo will be joining a club of MMA legends in the UFC previously held exclusive to fighters such as Randy Couture and Mark Coleman. However, if Coleman and Couture’s recent success over younger competition is a sign of what’s to come for Renzo, the dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt may still have a couple of wins left in him at the highest level of competition when it’s all said and done.

Sporting a career record of 13-6 with one draw, Gracie hasn’t seen professional MMA action since February of 2007 when the grappling technician was awarded with the disqualification victory after being kneed in the head while grounded by Frank Shamrock during “EliteXC: Destiny”. During his career Gracie holds notable victories over the likes of Oleg Taktarov, Carlos Newton and Pat Miletich.

The documentary, directed by Gethin Aldous, was filmed over a 10-year period and chronicles the life of jiu-jitsu and MMA living legend Renzo Gracie.

The film follows Gracie from his early days learning the sport in his native Brazil to his time coming to New York and becoming first a world champion, and then a master instructor from the streets of Sao Paulo to Japan and even Abu Dhabi. Renzo Gracie: Legacy provides a rare look into the making of an MMA champion and coach, through the eyes of one of the most respected stars of the sport.

Below is a trailer.

[flashvideo filename=video/renzodoc.flv /]

“Renzo Gracie: Legacy” will premiere at the first-ever U.S. Sports Film Festival in Philadelphia from Oct. 23-26.

“Philadelphia is a city whose fans and teams are always battling for recognition, we felt that the city that gave us ‘Rocky’ and Smokin’ Joe Frazier would really take to a track of new films on MMA and boxing, and these two are certainly amongst the most compelling,” said festival founder and president Stephan Hartman. “Given MMA’s rising popularity worldwide and its recent approval for competition in the state of Pennsylvania, the debut of the life story of such a living legend as Renzo Gracie was a perfect fit.”

Gracie is the son of Robson Gracie and the grandson of Carlos Gracie. He is also the grand-nephew of Helio Gracie, who is the father to Rickson Gracie, Royler Gracie, Royce Gracie, and Relson Gracie.

In addition to being well-known within the competitive grappling community, Renzo Gracie is also a household name to many MMA fans having compiled a 13-6 record that includes notable wins over former UFC champions Pat Miletich, Maurice Smith, Carlos Newton, Oleg Taktarov, and Frank Shamrock.

Alvarez’s opponent was confirmed as Hawaiian Ross “Da Boss” Ebanez, who last competed for EliteXC during the promotion’s first-ever card last February in Southaven, Miss. Ebanez lost to Mike Pyle due to a rear naked choke in the first round but is undefeated in his three fights since then (two wins and one no contest).

Other televised matches include a female match between Tonya Evinger and Julie Kedzie; a middleweight match between Ross “Kala Kolohe” Hose and French-Savate expert Frederic Belleton; and a fight between Bobby McMaster and Bao Quach that will be contested at 150 lbs.

The non-televised undercard includes scheduled bouts between Zach Makovsky vs. Wilson Reis (140 lbs.); James “Binky” Jones vs. Mark Getto (150 lbs.); Sergio Vinagre vs. Brett Linebarger (170 lbs.); Matt Makowski vs. Joe Shilling (170 lbs.); and Doug Gordon vs. TBD (170 lbs.).

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS BLOG, INCLUDING A MINI-BREAKDOWN OF THE CARD, ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

This will fight will add to an historical card that will also feature the first 4-man tournament sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission and Paul Buentello vs. Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce Heavyweight title.

After failing to sign Jeremy Jackson to fight Le, Strikeforce put together the fight with Morgan, who is coming back from over a year lay off after losing a lopsided unanimous decision to Forrest Petz at Ultimate Fight Night 6.

It is doubtful that Morgan will attempt to stand with Le and will probably attempt to utilize his submission game, which he can do.

But it is even more doubtful that many fans will see Morgan as a legitimate gauge of Le’s skills.