by Natasa Shepherd

Created on: October 23, 2009

If you were looking for the definition of an All American fighter "The Country Boy" Matt Hughes would do well to live up to the name. His heavily chiseled jaw line matched up with his powerhouse wrestling ability makes Hughes one of the most recognizable icons in the entire sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Hughes is often regarded as one of the first new wave of fighters that took MMA and The Ultimate Fighting Championships into the new age where fighters would learn and perform more than just one Martial Art. That alone says a lot for how quickly the sport has evolved because by today's standards, Hughes is seen as a fairly one dimensional fighter. Hughes would go on to become one of the most dominant Welterweight champions in the history of the UFC, but it wouldn't be an easy road for Hughes.

Hughes would fight the likes of heavily experienced at the time Dave Menne and Akihiro Gono in his first two years of competition since 1998. Hughes would have a run in one with fighter that would always seem to get the better of him, Dennis Hallman. Early in his career Hughes would be choked out by Hallman and would eventually have a run in with him again later in his career in a fight that he would yet again lose by submission. It wasn't the case that Hallman was just better than Hughes, in fact it was the other way round. Hallman was seen as a mid level fighter who would be brutalized by any fighter with a decent amount of skill but not Hughes. It quickly became a "thing" or joke for people to say about Hughes and his inability to beat this mid almost low level fighter. Nonetheless Hughes would continue on with his career, with the majority of his wins coming over lesser known fighters all over the U.S Hughes would get his chance at glory by facing off against current Welterweight champion and submission expert Carlos Newton.

With an amassed record of 30-3, Hughes would have a 17 fight experience edge over the champion. The fight would be one of the most talked about in UFC history due to its controversial ending. After battling back and forth in an all out war, Newton would secure a Triangle Choke on Hughes and it would seem to be all but over. But Hughes would prove why he fighting for the belt and no one else, he'd show off his freak like strength and lift Newton up above his head and hold him up against the cage. Now this is where things would get fishy. Holding Newton up against the cage, Hughes would seemingly slam Newton down to the canvas, knocking him out cold.

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