(Swaying the important ground-and-pound voter block.)

Former UFC champ Matt Hughes received the prestigious Yale Chubb Fellow this week, which he described as, “just an award for being who you are and standing up for what you believe is right.” That’s one way of putting it, though it wouldn’t explain why Queen Latifah has yet to receive the award.

A slightly different description comes from Time magazine — “the prestigious fellowship was endowed by Insurance Executive Hendon Chubb (’95) to encourage student interest in public affairs” — but then that doesn’t explain why Hughes got it. Other recipients include Harry Truman, Jesse Jackson, Maya Angelou, and Adlai Stevenson. How Hughes fits in there, I have absolutely no clue.

Anyway, they brought him to Yale and gave him some money, which he then gave to the Rancho 3M Christian orphanage, so something good came out of it.

Hughes also discusses the presidential election in his recent blog entry. We already knew he was voting for John McCain, but here he takes some time to explain why, perhaps to sway those mythical undecided voters we keep hearing about. After the jump, the political endorsement that could turn the tide of the election.

I’ve been asked a lot about this election and I’ve decided to go ahead and answer. I vote this way for my kids just as much as myself. First I think experience is an important factor. McCain has plenty, with over 20 years of experience as a Senator. Senator Obama has been there for around 4 years, but you have to subtract a year because he’s spent that running for the Presidency. One thing I dislike about Obama is he’s never shown that he loves this country. Whether it’s not putting his hand over his heart when he says the Pledge of Allegiance, or his wife’s comment about this being the first time she’s been proud of her country (when her husband was nominated as the Democrat candidate).

This is also going to be a big election because this President could get to pick three Supreme Court justices. I’m pro-life, against gay marriages, pro-gun and I want to keep our borders tight and I am in support of the war. I would not withdraw right now, I think we are well on our way towards what we wanted to do over there. I was told that these are not things that should determine the Presidency. I totally disagree. With the President going to nominate maybe three justices, I think it is a huge factor in this election. Another thing, I want the President to be a good role model, Senator McCain always addresses Barack Obama as Mr. or Senator Obama [ed. note: really?]. Barack always addresses Mr. McCain as John McCain. I like the respect value that Mr. McCain always shows. I dislike that Barack seems to show no respect for Mr. McCain. Barack not putting his hand over his heart during the Pledge also falls under the respect factor.

If Obama’s tax plan is what I’ve heard it is, then if you make over $250,000 a year, he is going to take 65 cents for every dollar you make and redistribute that. I’m all for helping people who need help, what I dislike is the government giving money to people who just want to sit around and be lazy and would rather soak up taxpayers’ money instead of going out and getting a job. I think we have enough of that already and those people don’t need anymore help. I would rather choose for myself who my money goes to.

Of course, everybody knows that I’m a born-again Christian, I know the McCain/Palin ticket share my views a lot closer than Obama/Biden. I don’t know for sure whether McCain is a Christian or not, however I do know that he sacrificed years of his life defending our freedoms which include freedom of religion. So he has proven that he is willing to sacrifice of himself to protect our Constitutional rights.

I do agree with Biden when he said that, if Obama gets elected, then somebody will test him within 6 months. The whole world is looking at this election and all those countries out there that hate us and want to do harm to us are hoping that Obama gets elected.

I can look past the fact that McCain was against my sport. I’m not taking that personally, I’m doing what I think is best for my kids and my country.

So, I hope people go out and use their best judgement and not look at who they can relate to the most, but who is going to do the best job out there.

-matt

Feel free to use the comments section, or perhaps even the forums, to express your feelings on the matter. It’s what our forefathers intended.