(Our thoughts exactly, Diego.)
This would appear to put to rest not only Royce Gracie’s aspirations to rematch Matt Hughes at UFC: Rio, but also an immediate bout for Diego Sanchez against any of the numerous dudes he’s been beefing with on Twitter: The horse’s mouth itself – UFC.com – confirmed on Thursday that Hughes and Sanchez will face-off at an event to be named later, likely in the fall. So that’s weird.
We might’ve thought Sanchez deserved better, after squeaking by Martin Kampmann via relentless disregard for his own face at the latest UFC on Versus show. Meanwhile, Hughes – who is 37 – has recently grumbled about retirement and appeared to indicate he’d only like to fight fellow old guys who he might actually be able to beat from here on out. This appears to be an odd little piece of matchmaking for both guys.
Hughes has one fight left on his contract and has said he’s uncertain whether he’ll ink a new one. That means there’s at least a decent possibility this bout against Sanchez might be his last. Guess it’s marketable enough, with Sanchez proclaiming Hughes one of his idols, the two having comparable styles and each guy being totally crazy in his own unique way.
Sanchez is currently riding a two-fight win streak after losing his welterweight comeback bid to John Hathaway at UFC 114. Both those victories – over Kampmann in March and Paulo Thiago last October – won him Fight of the Night honors. By comparison, Hughes saw his own three-fight streak snapped by a 21-second knockout at the hands of BJ Penn at UFC 123.
Winning the fight of the night bonus would be a pretty epic way for hughes to bow out. Maybe that’s what dana has in mind. though it’s hard to say. the guy’s a moron.