- By: Curtis Clontz | May 14,2008
Matt Hughes is highly-regarded as the best 170-pound fighter in the history of the UFC. He is a future hall of famer, and a legend in the sport of MMA. He has a phenomenal 42-6-0 professional MMA record, including an 18 fight win streak. A former UFC welterweight champion, Hughes holds notable wins over BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Frank Trigg, Royce Gracie, Hayato Sakurai, and Sean Sherk.
Matt graciously took some time out of his 3-a-day workout regimen to let us at MMAFrenzy.com pick his brain. One observation I made in compiling the interview was that the Matt Hughes portrayed on The Ultimate Fighter 6, on which he acted as a coach opposite rival Matt Serra, was the Matt Hughes I was talking with. Hughes is who he is, there was no sugar coating, and there was definitely no holding back. However, he was the complete opposite of what many MMA fans believe about him: He was extremely nice, respectful, and showed confidence, but not cockiness.
Curtis Clontz: Thanks for letting me take this opportunity to ask you a few questions. I know you are a busy man, and don’t have a lot of time so lets get right into it. First off, congrats on your successful book and tour. What was the most memorable moment of the tour?
Matt Hughes: It would probably be here in the Midwest, seeing some of the fans from out here in the Midwest was great, probably the best thing about the book was thinking back and reliving some of the stories that I had, that was a lot of fun.
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![Gesias \"JZ\" Calvancante](http://www.mmafrenzy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/gesias-jz-calvancante-200x173.jpg "Gesias \\"JZ\\" Calvancante")
Gesias “JZ” Calvancante will be out of action for an estimated 3-4 months after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee. The talented lightweight fighter, who trains with American Top Team, will undergo surgery to repair the injury, according to Sherdog.
Calvancante (14-2-1) was eliminated from the DREAM lightweight grand prix at DREAM 2 in late-April with a unanimous decision loss to Shinya Aoki in an opening round rematch after their first bout was prematurely halted following illegal elbow strikes by Calvancante. The loss was his first defeat in nearly four years.
“JZ” will be ringside at DREAM 5 for the lightweight grand prix finals in Osaka, Japan and expects to return to the promotion later this year, possibly against the winner of the lightweight tournament.
For the latest DREAM rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.
British welterweight Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy (19-6) has signed with the UFC. The promotion announced the signing yesterday.
From Hardy:
“It means everything to finally be at the pinnacle of mixed martial arts. Even kids who have never taken a martial arts class in their life dream about fighting in the UFC– it is the Premier League of MMA and there was nowhere else I wanted to be. I cannot wait to step into the Octagon and showcase myself on the biggest stage in MMA.
The plan was always to fight in the UFC when I felt I was 100% ready. But there were things I felt, as a fighter, I needed to work on before I made my UFC debut. I probably could have fought in the UFC before now, but I wanted to work on my skills, my BJJ and my wrestling. I have trained as a striker since I was six years old, but have really worked very hard on my ground game over the last four years, including working with Eddie Bravo out in the States, and I feel I’ve got one of the most well rounded games of any fighter in Europe.
I didn’t want to be in the UFC to make up the numbers. Reaching the UFC is an achievement in itself, of course, but after fighting in America and Japan, after having fought and beaten world ranked contenders in high pressure situations, I now feel my experience and ability is at a level where I can come into the UFC and not just have a few good fights, but really do things.”
Hardy, a Tae Kwon Do black belt, has won eight of his last nine bouts including his last three straight over Manuel Garcia, UFC-vet Chad Reiner, and Daniel Weichel.
He will make his UFC debut this summer.
Adrenaline MMA has released an updated fight card for their inaugural event, scheduled for June 14th at the Sears Centre in Chicago, Illinois.
For the latest Adrenaline MMA rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.
MAIN CARD
- Jeff Monson (23-7) vs. Mike Russow (9-1)
- Daiju Takase (7-11) vs. Terry Martin (16-4)
- Zac George (11-2) vs. Clay French (14-2)
- Tony Fryklund (14-9) vs. Brian Gassaway (25-17-1)
- Jeff Cox (9-6) vs. Bart Palaszewski (28-11)
- Tiawon Howard (6-1) vs. Rory Markham (14-4)
- Anthony Lapsley (13-3) vs. Mark Miller (9-3)
- Herc Hayes (7-5) vs. Kerry Schall (22-9)
- Rob Kimmons (15-3) vs. Hector Urbina (11-3)
- Aaron Rosa (10-2) vs. Ron Fields (23-24-1)
- Louis Taylor (4-0) vs. Adam Maciejewski (6-4)
PRELIMINARY BOUTS
- Dom O’Grady (5-0) vs. Mike Stumpf (9-1)
- Joe Jordan (41-11) vs. Ryan Williams (6-1)
- Joe Pearson (22-9) vs. John Hosman (8-3-1)
Popular former-UFC fighter Nick Diaz will clash with Hayato “Mach” Sakurai for the first-ever DREAM welterweight championship at DREAM 5 on July 21st in Osaka, Japan.
Diaz (16-7) defeated Katsuya Inoue via technical knockout at DREAM 3 this past Saturday in a welterweight championship eliminator. The bout remained close throughout much of the opening frame but Diaz poured on the punishment late to force Inoue’s corner to throw in the towel. He is 4-1 with 1 no contest, a gogoplata victory over Takanori Gomi that was later ruled a no contest following a positive drug test, in his last 6 bouts.
Sakurai (32-8-2) had won five straight fights, including a win over Ultimate Fighter 6 winner Mac Danzig and a victory in the DREAM lightweight grand prix opening round, before losing to David Baron at a Shooto event earlier this month. “Mach” is 9-2 in his last 11 bouts including victories over Jens Pulver, Shinya Aoki, and Joachim Hansen.
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