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With Heavyweights Injured, Hughes and Alves Top Card
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to London tonight for UFC 85, and with the much-anticipated Chuck Liddell- Mauricio Rua light heavyweight bout off as the headliner (both fighters are injured), welterweights Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves will face off at the top of the card in a battle of youth vs. experience.
Hughes (43-6, 15-4 UFC), a former Division I all-American wrestler at Eastern Illinois, has been called the best welterweight to ever enter the Octagon. But at 34, this former nine-time UFC champion is on the downside of a stellar career. He lost the title to current champion Georges St. Pierre in November 2006, then lost to St. Pierre again last December with the interim welterweight title on the line.
After the second loss to St. Pierre, Hughes hinted that he might be ready to step away from the sport, citing his family (he and his wife have a daughter together and two sons from previous relationships) and desire to write a second book (he recently published his autobiography).
"I've got two fights left on my contract," Hughes said, "so by no means am I going to retire before my contract is over. And probably not [right] afterwards. I'm 34 years old, [but] I feel more like 24. If people label me the veteran, that's fine with me. That's not a sign of disgrace to me."
Should Hughes win, it likely will set up a fight with Matt Serra, who lost a welterweight title bout to St. Pierre in April.
Alves (14-3, 7-2 UFC) is one of the rising stars in the sport. He is 24 years old and a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu. His last four fights, all victories, have been ended by knockout or TKO in the second round. Alves had his first pro fight a week after his 18th birthday but has not fought for a title.
At the news conference, the Brazilian-born Alves called Hughes "a legend" and someone he has "been watching fight forever."
-- Dave Yanovitz
