What Now for Matt Hughes?

Matt Hughes had a chance to get himself back in the running for a shot at Georges St. Pierre's Welterweight title.

The thought was that if Hughes beat Thiago Alves at UFC 85, and then beat Matt Serra in their anticipated match-up sometime in the fall, then Hughes would be the number one contender for the Welterweight title.

Things didn't work out that way though. Alves stopped Matt Hughes early in the second round of their UFC 85: Bedlam match after Alves floored Hughes with a vicious flying knee. Hughes never looked dangerous in this fight.

It is now assumed that if Georges St. Pierre successfully defends his Welterweight title at UFC 87 against Jon Fitch, then an Alves - St. Pierre fight will happen sometime around UFC 91 or 92. This is assuming that Dana White doesn't decide to bury Alves for missing weight in his fight against Hughes. This is the second time in his career that Alves has had a weight-related issue that has embarrassed the company - there is always a chance that White will punish Alves by not putting him in a match against St. Pierre.

But anyways, back to Matt Hughes. What now for one of the greatest Welterweight fighters of all time?

Hughes has an impressive 42-7-0 record, but has lost three of his last four fights. His only victory in those four fights was a unanimous decision win against Chris Lytle at UFC 68 - Uprising. Other than that, he was dismantled by Thiago Alves and Georges St. Pierre twice (UFC 79 and UFC 65). Hughes can't be considered a serious contender for the Welterweight title at this time - I am not sure that fans would shell out their hard-earned dollars to watch him get destroyed by "Rush" once again.

Hughes has been grumbling about retirement for some time. I think that his next (and final) match will be against Matt "The Terror" Serra sometime in the fall. He has publicly stated that he wants to fight on the same card as his twin brother before he retires. His brother is set to sign a contract with the UFC - hopefully Dana White will accommodate Hughes by putting the two brothers on the same card this fall.

Hughes has one more fight left on his UFC contract. A Serra - Hughes fight in the fall makes sense to me right now, but I'm not sure what the future holds for Hughes after that. Hughes has publicly stated that he wants to fight "three or four" more times, but will the UFC offer him another deal? If he does beat Matt Serra, who would you put him up against next? What if he loses?

The future for Matt Hughes in the UFC is definitely murky, at best.

Play Poker - Receive a $600 Bonus