Rumor: Renzo Gracie vs Matt Hughes @ UFC 109

[Mr. IWS]

I really cant see this happening, but I will be all over Hughes in this one.




http://www.aroundtheoctagon.com/?p=2676
ATO has learned through a source close to the HIT squad that Matt Hughes has been approached to face Renzo Gracie in February at UFC 109.
Renzo Gracie last competed in February 2007 when he defeated Frank Shamrock via disqualification. Gracie has won his last three fights since falling to BJ Penn in 2005. The layoff in between fights could be a problem for Gracie.
Hughes has been lying low since his big win over rival Matt Serra at UFC 98. He had signed a new seven fight deal back in September but he has yet to return to the octagon despite being called out by Josh Koscheck and other rising welterweights. Hughes is 2-3 in his last five fights and a matchup against an older fighter like Renzo could be very favorable.

[SPX]

Damn, Hughes signed a 7 fight deal? I figured he was pretty close to retiring. . .

[zY|]

Damn, Hughes signed a 7 fight deal? I figured he was pretty close to retiring. . .

So did Randy. That just means they will finish their careers in the UFC.

[Luke]

Damn, Hughes signed a 7 fight deal? I figured he was pretty close to retiring. . .


::lmao:: ::lmao:: He's got 10 years on Randy and Coleman ,Hughes is just a young one

[SPX]

::lmao:: ::lmao:: He's got 10 years on Randy and Coleman ,Hughes is just a young one

Well, he's said several times that he's thinking about it and really just wants to be a family man and do his farm thing.

Plus, it's becoming obvious that his best days are behind him and he can't really hang with the best of the best anymore.

[Luke]

::lmao:: ::lmao:: He's got 10 years on Randy and Coleman ,Hughes is just a young one

Well, he's said several times that he's thinking about it and really just wants to be a family man and do his farm thing.

Plus, it's becoming obvious that his best days are behind him and he can't really hang with the best of the best anymore.


I was kidding

[cward81386]

Im goign with this is a walk in the park for hughes... I love seeing renzo back in action but please not in the ufc. I could really enjoy seein Renzo fight frank shamrocks and other older legends such as himself for the rest of his career in sf or japan. Just seems pointless...

[Mr. IWS]

Looks like its going down. I like Renzo, but really, why do they bring in guys like Renzo, Baroni, etc. And cut guys like Werdum? Doesnt make any sense.


Renzo Gracie will mark the first member of the Gracie family to compete in the UFC since Royce was thoroughly embarrassed by former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes back in May of 2007 during UFC 60.
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.

[Luke]

Looks like its going down. I like Renzo, but really, why do they bring in guys like Renzo, Baroni, etc. And cut guys like Werdum? Doesnt make any sense.


More KO's and one sided fights imo makes its more exciting.

The reason I like strikeforce better than the UFC is because most of the time you have two fighters who arent close in talent and if they are one has great stand up and one has a great ground game so its a entertaining fight.

No one wants to watch a fight like Couture-Vera for example where nothing happens and you can almost fall asleep while there laying on the cage. Now the Rodgers -Fedor fight was exciting .

To me Strikeforce has way more entertaining fights than the UFC ,way more quick KO's and its because of the talent gap between fighters .Maybe Dana's bringing some bums over to get slaughtered to make for more entertaining fights.

Look at the Amir-Baroni fight. It was one sided but entertaining

[Mr. IWS]

While I love to see a big KO, I like a fight, where you have no idea what the outcome will be. (unless my money is on it)

I would rather have the best of the best fighting each other. I dont care if it goes 5 rounds. As long as its a good fight.

I love a fight with lots of submission attempts too.

That Amir/Baroni fight, was more of a joke in my eyes. Everyone knew that Baroni was gonna gas out in 3 minutes. I love Baroni, but that clown shouldnt be anywhere near an octagon.

I like Strikeforce too, but they are so thin in every weight class. I mean, if you look at heavyweight, After Fedor fights Werdum, and Ubereem, if he ever comes back to the US, whats left for him? Gilbert Yvel? Who wants to see that shit?

Same thing at WW and MW, and they have nothing in their LHW division either.

I will say that Fedor/Rogers fight was the most exciting Ive seen in a while, but a big part of that for me was the fact that I had over 400 bucks riding on Fedor.LOL

[Luke]

While I love to see a big KO, I like a fight, where you have no idea what the outcome will be. (unless my money is on it)

I would rather have the best of the best fighting each other. I dont care if it goes 5 rounds. As long as its a good fight.

I love a fight with lots of submission attempts too.

That Amir/Baroni fight, was more of a joke in my eyes. Everyone knew that Baroni was gonna gas out in 3 minutes. I love Baroni, but that clown shouldnt be anywhere near an octagon.

I like Strikeforce too, but they are so thin in every weight class. I mean, if you look at heavyweight, After Fedor fights Werdum, and Ubereem, if he ever comes back to the US, whats left for him? Gilbert Yvel? Who wants to see that shit?

Same thing at WW and MW, and they have nothing in their LHW division either.

I will say that Fedor/Rogers fight was the most exciting Ive seen in a while, but a big part of that for me was the fact that I had over 400 bucks riding on Fedor.LOL


Trust me when its boxing or UFC that I have money or not I want to see the best figthting the best .

But just as you say"me like a good freak show" and thats what strikeforce reminds me of lol


Plus I cant get the old lady to watch UFC or boxing because they are more techinical fights.She will watch Strikeforce because she knows there will be wild,crazy action in them

[Mr. IWS]

Shit, I love me a good freak show. ::thumbup::

[Luke]

Shit, I love me a good freak show. ::thumbup::


Thats what I consider strikeforce as at this point.I dont consider them the samething as UFC

[zY|]

Shit, I love me a good freak show. ::thumbup::


Thats what I consider strikeforce as at this point.I dont consider them the samething as UFC

Do you consider minor league sports teams to be freak shows?

[Luke]

[quote="IWS Zak":37ppkk44]Shit, I love me a good freak show. ::thumbup::


Thats what I consider strikeforce as at this point.I dont consider them the samething as UFC

Do you consider minor league sports teams to be freak shows?[/quote:37ppkk44]


No why? ::lmao::


Strikeforce cant really be considered the minor leagues when the have Fedor imo

[zY|]

Fedor is an anomaly. A statistical outlier. As such, we discard him from the discussion.

[SPX]

Strikeforce has a lot of UFC level fighters (and a lot that aren't). Not only do that have Fedor, but they also have Werdum. And I'd consider Rogers really to be as good as many UFC HWs. And there's also Gil Melendez, Jake Shields and Mousasi. And Cung Le, who we really don't know exactly how good he is or isn't because he hasn't fought the best.

[zY|]

Whose side are you on here? Sounds like a classic fencesitter argument.


























::winna::

[SPX]

Whose side are you on here? Sounds like a classic fencesitter argument.

Well just as you say Fedor is an anomaly, I'd say Strikeforce is a bit of an anomaly. It's odd because they have arguably the very best MMArtist in all of history (Fedor). And they also have another very hot prospect who by all accounts really should be in the UFC (Mousasi). I think Shields also is UFC caliber, as well as Gil Melendez, Diaz, and probably a few others.

But as a whole, Strikeforce's roster is a notch below the UFCs. Are they the minor leagues? Hard to call them that when they have Fedor. But at the same time, it does seem like if you get your ass beat out of the UFC then Strikeforce is where you go. So I don't think Strikeforce is on the UFC's level, but they're working hard to pull a lot of talent in their direction and it's not inconceivable that if this trend keeps up then the top talent will be evenly split between both orgs.


















::winna::

[Mr. IWS]

It may go down in Abu Dhabi


MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- When Matt Hughes announced on his Web site last week that he’d be fighting on April 10, the 36-year-old Illinois native did not divulge whom he would be squaring off with or where UFC 112 would be held. However, the former welterweight champion has been long rumored to be facing Renzo Gracie, 42, who reportedly signed a six-fight contract with the promotion recently.

When Dana White was asked Thursday if the Hughes-Gracie bout would he held in Abu Dhabi –- a location White recently scouted himself –- the UFC President answered cryptically.

“Sounds good to me,” he said, smiling broadly.

Asked about making that match, White noted that he respects a lot of fighters in the sport and implied that not every UFC fight has to have title implications.

“There’s this whole beef over Renzo choking out Pat Miletich (Hughes’ mentor) and sometimes it’s more than just; sometimes guys just want to fight and Renzo’s been training, he wants to fight Matt Hughes and Matt Hughes wants to fight him,” said White.

The fact that Sheik Tahnoon, of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family, is a Renzo Gracie black belt, along with White’s own statements on the promotion’s desire to hold an event in the United Arab Emirate’s capital, all point to the UFC’s Middle Eastern debut with this headlining bout.

UFC UK president Marshall Zelaznik told Sherdog.com at UFC 105 in November that he would be heading back to the Persian Gulf in hopes of cementing the deal. He said the window for promoting the show would narrow as the extremely hot summer season approached.

[Luke]

This fight is a joke .This is even worse than when Dana brought in a 40 year old Royce Gracie to fight a prime Hughes .Hughes much suck a good one for Dana to keep bringing in the cream puffs for him