…is it even necessary to reply…

styles make fights. this would be interesting, i think matt hughes has the type of style that would give silva problems. everyone who silva has fought in the UFC has tryed to stand up wth him except for Lutter.Lutter was doing well until he got caught, a wrestler like hughes might give silva serious problems.

Who was doubting me when I said that Hughes and GSP were both thinking of moving up?
Could you imagine Hughes if he could pack on 10lbs of muscle… GD!

eh Hughes vs. Silva..I dunno what to think about this.
But it won’t happen cause Rich will win.

Hughes’ stock has gone back up with me. That takes balls to get in the ring with Silva- who will have a tremendous reach advantage. It would be a hell of a fight. I think sentiment is almost unanimous here that Franklin won’t beat Silva. You could Photoshop Franklin’s face over Marquardt’s body and see the outcome.
Silva is like a real life Afro Thunder… except without the afro. Dude is a bionic toothpick.

hughes will lose to serra…then when he knows welterweight isnt his anymore he will move up and have a fight before a title fight…. then him…anderson silva…and rich franklin will switch up as number one condenders until they die because paulo filho will be the champ forever…then when he dies the world can end

I can’t see Silva losing unless Denis Kang or Filho comes to the UFC. Of course Hendo could come down. Even then they’d have a tough time against him.

Oh my god! I actually hope Franklin loses now, I want to see this! Matt Hughes is going to look like a MONSTER at 185. I would pick Hughes to win though.

Have we forgotten what happened in GSP vs Hughes II? I dont see how this fight would end any differently. Let’s not forget that Silva would be coming down in weight to make 185 & would likely weigh in much heavier than that by fight night. Being that Hughes would be coming up in weight, obviously puts Hughes at a disadvantage.

Let’s keep in mind that Silva can end this fight no matter where it ends up and Silva’s striking is THE BEST in the game, weight-class be damned. He will punch Hughes at will & judging from his recent tear, it only takes 3-4 well placed strikes from Silva to put anyone away. Matt must keep it on the ground & not only that but must maintain a dominant position while on the ground in order to have any chance to win.

One might be inclined to think that Matt holds the advantage on the ground but anyone whose been paying attention knows how well Silva sweeps from the guard & how Matt struggles with that counter. Couple that with the fact that Silva is deceptively strong & it’s only a matter of time before Matt’s in trouble.

hughes wouldnt have to do much, he regularly walks around in the 190s i’ve heard. hes just a machine at cutting weight, the wretler’s heritage i guess.

[quote post="2730"]Silva will win[/quote]

[quote comment="103526"]styles make fights. this would be interesting, i think matt hughes has the type of style that would give silva problems. everyone who silva has fought in the UFC has tryed to stand up wth him except for Lutter.Lutter was doing well until he got caught, a wrestler like hughes might give silva serious problems.[/quote]

for sure. i actually think that matt hughes has a better chance of beating silva than he would gsp.. or koscheck! i’m not saying that silva isn’t dangerous but i agree with what shawn’s saying, hughes could be a bad match up for silva.

Your all crazy, silva would eat hughes alive!

franklin doesnt look like his old self since getting a free face remodelling from silva

you could see when silva beat marquadt that franklin knew that hed signed his own death warrant

of the current 185s it would take someone like robbie lawler with dynamite in his hands to get a lucky punch to beat silva

a crafty veteran like jeremy horn may stand a chance

but in all seriousness it wouldnt amaze me if silva got the record of title defenses / octagon winning streak

when you look at 205 there arent really any legit challengers who could move down and make 185 (possibly rashad)

dan hendersons future is up in the air… if he wins against rampage i cant see it being in the ufcs interests for him to fight andersson silva and take a clean sweep of all 4 belts

so imho the only credible challenges to silva are those who go up a weight class

there are 3 obvious challengers … hughes … GSP … PENN
all of whom i would love to see fight at 185

penn looks set to face sherk and grab the 155 title unless sherk pulls another year layoff

hughes will beat serra comfortably toward the end of this year

GSP has a tough fight with koscheck coming up who to me looks like the real deal and it wouldnt be a huge upset to me if gsp lost, there are at least 10 greater upsets so far this year

if GSP loses he’ll either have to go down the ranks and try to rebuild or could possibly move up to 185 using the excuse that its too much weight to cut to make 170

so id say penn or hughes are the most likely candidates for silvas first fight of 2008 around about february or second towards the summer

id expect hughes to be able to take him down and atleast test his cardio into the championship rounds

penn on the other hand could easily be the best sub 185lb on the planet
if he trains and gets his cardio in the right place i dont think there is a single fighter sub 205 that i would bet on to beat penn…thered be a lot of fights like hughes that i wouldnt be betting on, but there isnt a single guy i could pick to own him

[quote post="2730"]styles make fights. this would be interesting, i think matt hughes has the type of style that would give silva problems. everyone who silva has fought in the UFC has tryed to stand up wth him except for Lutter.Lutter was doing well until he got caught, a wrestler like hughes might give silva serious problems.[/quote]
Styles do make fights , but Silva proved in his last 2 fights he is not quite a fish out of water on the ground. I see Silva winning this one early.

gsp ang hughes 2? i doubt hughes would try and stand with him like he did gsp. if it hit the ground hughes would be very tough to beat

Is he looking past Hughes. Im assuming he predicts this fight to be Champion Vs. Champion at 185. I see Hughes losing this fight

I meant is he looking past GSP, he’s obviously expecting to beat Serra

[quote comment="103597"]gsp ang hughes 2? i doubt hughes would try and stand with him like he did gsp. if it hit the ground hughes would be very tough to beat[/quote]

Who r u!!!! n yes i believe on what u r saying but silva is strong n a BJ especialist…. I doubt that Hughes have a chance…

If Hughes has a chin like Sherk, he has a chance. Hughes will obviously want to take it down to the ground, and Silva’s knees will be waiting.

[quote comment="103527"]Who was doubting me when I said that Hughes and GSP were both thinking of moving up?
Could you imagine Hughes if he could pack on 10lbs of muscle… GD![/quote]

I’m pretty sure Matt weighs a lot more when he isn’t in the octagon, just like sherk. I would’t doubt he is 190.

Hughes i think will beat Matt Serra in December. I think it will be a great fight Serra will probably come out throwing leather trying for the KO. If it goes to a clinch or the ground even with all of Matt Serra’s jujitsu training i give the edge to Hughes. I dunno on paper its a killer fight lets hope it is. As far as Hughes and silva its simple if Hughes can avoid getting Ko’ed by knees,Kicks, or strikes he will win. I know Silva is well versed in BJJ but so is Hughes. And on the ground i think Hughes is physically stronger i know silva is strong but not matt hughes strong. So hughes will easily tie up Silva’s long arms. Silva is fast so it might be hard for Matt to keep him down on the canvas. Even though Silva is versed in BJJ you know he is not gonna want it to go to the ground. And hughes at 185 is gonna be stacked.So if Matt can avoid getting blasted he will win this fight i think. Silva is great but really i think Rich will beat him this time around so maybe hughes may never fight silva cuz whats the point in moving up in weight if your friend that you wont fight is the champ already.

hughes would have all kinds of problems with silva, he couldn’t handle gsp’s stand up or bj penn’s or take either down really, so whats he gonna do with the spider? gsp/silva would be a much better fight

I want to see Anderson Silva vs GSP and Hughes vs Henderson.

As much as I want it to happen, I just dont think it will. I really think Franklin will win this time around. I actually picked Silva to win their first fight though so dont call me crazy. Rich is a very smart fighter, thats pretty much all I’m going on lol.

[quote comment="103670"]As much as I want it to happen, I just dont think it will. I really think Franklin will win this time around. I actually picked Silva to win their first fight though so dont call me crazy. Rich is a very smart fighter, thats pretty much all I’m going on lol.[/quote]

I think Franklin will have his plastic surgeon on speed dial or at ring side.

[quote comment="103667"]I want to see Anderson Silva vs GSP and Hughes vs Henderson.[/quote]
That’s what i’m talking about.

I think Hughes would have a very good shot at beating Silva,Id actualy like to see Silva move up and fight Liddell.

Christ, I have no respect for a man who can’t fucking spell the word “lose”. I had to go to his forum post to confirm that he had indeed made the misspelling, and actually, he spelled it “losses” rather than “looses”. I’m not even sure which is worse.

I think that if Hughes beats Serra, he’ll have one last fight with GSP. Win or lose, I think he then will retire.

Silva’s reach advantage over Hughes would likely just be too much for Hughes to fight him, although he had the same advantage over Chonan, and Chonan outfought Silva, even before the submission.

[quote comment="103670"]As much as I want it to happen, I just dont think it will. I really think Franklin will win this time around. I actually picked Silva to win their first fight though so dont call me crazy. Rich is a very smart fighter, thats pretty much all I’m going on lol.[/quote]
Sounds like everyone except you is betting against Franklin and the most recent fights between upper echelon fighters where one guy was so heavily favored… let’s see GSP-Sera, Crocop-Gonzaga, Jardine-Alexander, Arlovski-Sylvia II.

Okay on the other hand, Huerta was probably a “no action” favorite over the guy he beat recently in UFC 73. I was thinking Noguiera-Herring maybe but I seem to recall people siding with Herring because he’s had octagon experience (and shoot- Herring should have won the fight in the first round).
Ummm… drawing a blank on others though. I would just say among fights where one fighter is nearly unanimously favored by the fans, the other fighter has a much higher winning percentage than expected. Maybe 25 to 40% range?

[quote comment="103810"]Christ, I have no respect for a man who can’t fucking spell the word “lose”. I had to go to his forum post to confirm that he had indeed made the misspelling, and actually, he spelled it “losses” rather than “looses”. I’m not even sure which is worse.[/quote]
He’s just a good ol’ country boy- not no fancy pants Ivy League scholar!

I think that if Hughes returns to his standard ground and pound formula, then he has a chance against Silva. Silva is an amazing striker, but I don’t know how he would handle Hughes’ strength on the ground. I think that the GSP II fight was one where Hughes came in on short rest and tried to strike and abandon his best strengths. Even Penn says that Hughes is better than GSP and that he took the fight too soon after his fight with Penn.
I also think that Hughes will cruise past Serra, which means that he has been given a nice chunk of time to train, and stay healthy without having any battles like he did with Penn and GSP. I would give Matt a 50/50 chance.

..Hughes would get dropped by Anderson Silva..They said the same about Nate ” his style, his power, to strong for silva “..yaadaada yaaadaaa..look what happenend to Nate..he ended up in LA LA Landland..Hughes wanting a fight with the UFC middle weight champ..is not in his best interest. Da Spider will be holding on to the gold 4 as long as he wants..he is coming into his prime..every fight looking grest..his overrall game is OUT OF THIS WORLD..boys and girls..but hey if the cockysome country boy is looking 4an ass wooping..he’ll get what he wants when he meets Anderson.

Again I must say Jose H, complete Bush league on your part. Blasphemy I say !!! Life time ban. Matt Hughes is the welter weight division.

[quote post="2730"]a crafty veteran like jeremy horn may stand a chance[/quote]

I can’t tell if your being sarcastic or not so I thought I’d quickly point out that Silva has already beaten Jeremy Horn. Franklin actually cornered Horn during that fight & shortly after, as we all know, Silva took Franklins belt.

[quote comment="103553"]Have we forgotten what happened in GSP vs Hughes II? I dont see how this fight would end any differently. Let’s not forget that Silva would be coming down in weight to make 185 & would likely weigh in much heavier than that by fight night. Being that Hughes would be coming up in weight, obviously puts Hughes at a disadvantage.

Let’s keep in mind that Silva can end this fight no matter where it ends up and Silva’s striking is THE BEST in the game, weight-class be damned. He will punch Hughes at will & judging from his recent tear, it only takes 3-4 well placed strikes from Silva to put anyone away. Matt must keep it on the ground & not only that but must maintain a dominant position while on the ground in order to have any chance to win.

quote]

This is really true. silva’s crushed everyone who has stepped into the octagon with him except lutter and i think i remember something about recovering from knee surgery before that fight. He’s made everyone else look like a fool in there with him, and franklin and marquardt are nothing to sneeze at.

If GSP KO’d hughes (pretty much twice) in their second fight. Silva is an even better striker than GSP and is a BJJ black belt.

I don’t see this as a good idea for hughes

[quote post="2730"]eh Hughes vs. Silva..I dunno what to think about this.
But it won’t happen cause Rich will win. [/quote]

I don’t know about that. I think the only reason that Matt Hughes made this statement is because he, himself, thinks that Rich Franklin is going to lose to Anderson Silva again.

But even in Franklin lost, if Hughes beats Serra for the belt, it wouldn’t be a wise move for the UFC to let Hughes fight for the MW belt if he already had the WW belt. That would put both of those divisions worse off because he would have to defend both belts. The WW is arguably the best division and we are already waiting 10 months to see the next title fight. If Huges has both belts, a 10 month wait between WW and MW title fights would become the norm.

[quote post="2730"]I think Franklin will have his plastic surgeon on speed dial or at ring side. [/quote]

Wow, that a pretty creative statement, seeing that that is the answer to Mania’s poll!

hughes will get knocked silly, and he won’t have as easy of a time on the ground as one might think. He won’t be able to over power silva as easily as he does other fighters at 170. Silva would take this one by strikes.

Hughes would be no pushover for Anderson Silva. Hughes would keep the distance and then get the takedown to maybe win the fight. Hughes has a real good chance of holding two belts in two weight classes. I don’t see Silva beating Franklin this October. Franklin will train so hard and come in with a spectacular game plan to beat Silva for the title.

Silva knocks franklin out again.

If Hughes fights Silva…. Silva will knock him out even easier then Franklin.

Anyone want to put some money on it. Cause I will. Silva will not lose either of these matches.

[quote comment="103759"][quote comment="103667"]I want to see Anderson Silva vs GSP and Hughes vs Henderson.[/quote]
That’s what i’m talking about.[/quote]

Joe Rogan would hype those fights into oblivion

[quote comment="103553"]Have we forgotten what happened in GSP vs Hughes II? I dont see how this fight would end any differently. Let’s not forget that Silva would be coming down in weight to make 185 & would likely weigh in much heavier than that by fight night. Being that Hughes would be coming up in weight, obviously puts Hughes at a disadvantage.

Let’s not forget that Hughes is a wrestler at heart. We all know that wrestlers traditionally cut more weight than any other fighter. If Hughes were a striker he would have probably never fought in the welterweight division. He is a lot stronger than Silva and by fight time I gaurantee he weighs close to 195lbs. He cuts a lot of weight and the weight difference will not be much. In the weight aspect of the fight there will be no disadvantage. Also some of the strongest fighters in the welterweight division have said that Hughes is like having a cement block on your chest for 3 or 5, 5 minute rounds. It would be similar to the Sherk/Franca fight.

[quote comment="103898"]Hughes would be no pushover for Anderson Silva. Hughes would keep the distance and then get the takedown to maybe win the fight. Hughes has a real good chance of holding two belts in two weight classes. I don’t see Silva beating Franklin this October. Franklin will train so hard and come in with a spectacular game plan to beat Silva for the title.[/quote]

i think you are saying “keep the distance” because of Silva’s clinch game. Unfortunately for Hughes, Silva is going to be dangerous from there as well. He is also an excellent out-fighter and with long arms and legs. I think he would have the best chance with the Gonzaga game plan- fight your way inside and get the take down. The farther out you are to shoot, the slower you are. Saying that, I still don’t think Hughes has a chance in this fight. Neither does Rich Franklin.
I may also be the only person on this forum that thinks Hughes won’t beat Serra.

This is really true. silva’s crushed everyone who has stepped into the octagon with him except lutter and i think i remember something about recovering from knee surgery before that fight. He’s made everyone else look like a fool in there with him, and franklin and marquardt are nothing to sneeze at.

If GSP KO’d hughes (pretty much twice) in their second fight. Silva is an even better striker than GSP and is a BJJ black belt.

I don’t see this as a good idea for hughes[/quote]

If you think back to that fight Hughes actually tried to stand up and strike with Georges for the entire fight. We all know that GSP is a much greater striker than Hughes that is nothing new. Hughes tried one take down but it was after a stiff right or jab by GSP that put Hughes in a bad position for a take down.

[quote comment="103877"][quote comment="103553"]This is really true. silva’s crushed everyone who has stepped into the octagon with him except lutter and i think i remember something about recovering from knee surgery before that fight. He’s made everyone else look like a fool in there with him, and franklin and marquardt are nothing to sneeze at.

If GSP KO’d hughes (pretty much twice) in their second fight. Silva is an even better striker than GSP and is a BJJ black belt.

I don’t see this as a good idea for hughes[/quote]

If you think back to that fight Hughes actually tried to stand up and strike with Georges for the entire fight. We all know that GSP is a much greater striker than Hughes that is nothing new. Hughes tried one take down but it was after a stiff right or jab by GSP that put Hughes in a bad position for a take down.

If marquardt wasnt too strong for silva, hughes wont be either. If franklin wasnt too strong for silva how can hughes be too strong? If you remember correctly franklin was beating up on 205 lbers b4 dropping to 185. Hughes would get pwned just like franklin will at 77.

shouldn’t hughes actually fight someone in the middleweight class before he gets a title shot ?

[quote post="2730"]shouldn’t hughes actually fight someone in the middleweight class before he gets a title shot ? [/quote]

Couture didnt.

Every one knows Hughes more or less tried to stand with GSP, I think its a bad comparison to go by, and GSP is 10 times the wrestler silva is. I think Hughes would get destroyed quickly on his feet with silva and he knows it which is why he would be a good match for silva, lutter knew he couldn’t stand with him and look how well he did. I personally think Matts mount would be better than lutters and silva would have been in a world of trouble. Chris, Rich and Nate thought they could stand and bang with silva…..poor mis guided souls, he’s WAY out of there leagues in that department. Even GSP going head to head with silva would be a bad idea, even though I think GSP’s leg kicks are better than Silvas I think Silva has better hands. I personally think GSP and Hughes have a better chance against silva than franklin does, if GSP relied more on leg kicks and wrestling and Hughes if he only wrestled him, trying to box with silva is dumb for any middle or welter weight he’s that good. I really think Hughes and GSP should move up to from the over crowed welter weight division to the lame middle weight division and give it some depth, I would love to see either GSP or Hughes fight silva, I think they both would have a good chance.

[quote comment="103940"]shouldn’t hughes actually fight someone in the middleweight class before he gets a title shot ?[/quote]
no way, Matt Hughes has already proved himself that he is a champion wether he has the belt or not. With the Middleweight division so horrible for actual contenders, I would see no problem with Hughes moving up to fight for the belt right away at all.

I also think Hughes would have an easier time with silva than with GSP mainly because of GSP’s strength and wrestling ability.

[quote comment="103898"]Hughes would be no pushover for Anderson Silva. Hughes would keep the distance and then get the takedown to maybe win the fight. Hughes has a real good chance of holding two belts in two weight classes. I don’t see Silva beating Franklin this October. Franklin will train so hard and come in with a spectacular game plan to beat Silva for the title.[/quote]

” YEAH SURE “

Its a great match-up because there on oppisite sides of the spectrum. If its a bad match-up for anyone its bad for Silva. And does anyone really think Silva is gonna be as strong as Hughes at that weight???You’ve got to be joking. Make no mistake anything can happen yeah but i see Hughes beating Serra and if they do fight having a good chance of beating Silva. But Franklin i think will fair alot better against silva this time possibly win by KO. Silva is great and the more he wins the more people start believing he cant be beat. He’s due for a loss cuz the competiton is getting tougher. Hughes is stronger and if it goes to the ground Silva’s BJJ wont mean sh!t when hughes has him mounted and is caving his skull in. Hell hughes could possibly win by submission. Silva has to win by KO unless he can manage to trap Hughes in a triangle with those long legs. I give it to hughes all the way not because he’s matt hughes but because its just on paper a real bad match-up for silva. But it only takes one punch or kick so no one really knows.

I know hughes tried to stand with GSP for a lot of their 2nd fight but I think I remember him trying more than one takedown and getting nothing out of it

Hughes would get smashed…GSP is a tall, great striker a 170.

Silva is taller than GSP and a better striker.

How does Hughes deal with that type of reach advantage?
It puts him an extra 3 inches further away from his opponent.

THE MAN IS A BEAST WITH 10 MORE POUNDS PACKED ON CAN YOU IMAGINE HIS STRENGTH, WITH HIS CONDITIONING COMBINED, THAT IS ONE FIGHT I WOULD PAY GREAT MONEY FOR. I AM A HUGE FRANKLIN FAN BUT IT IS ALMOST TO THE POINT WHERE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM LOSE JUST TO SEE MATT FIGHTING ANDERSON

If you want to see Silva get beat. It was farely close but you could tell Silva was tentative about attacking. That was his fight against Ryo Chonan. Flying heel hook anyone. One of the most impressive moves in an MMA fight I have seen.
http://www.mmaplayground.com/mma-videos/video/ryo-chonan-vs-anderson-silva-124.html

Yo Whad up wit the SilvaHaterRade on blast up in here??

[quote comment="103608"][quote comment="103597"]gsp ang hughes 2? i doubt hughes would try and stand with him like he did gsp. if it hit the ground hughes would be very tough to beat[/quote]

Who r u!!!! n yes i believe on what u r saying but silva is strong n a BJ especialist…. I doubt that Hughes have a chance…[/quote]

If Hughes does not get ko’s by silva on his feet he will out bj silva. He out bj royce gracie last time I checked. It would be the toughest fight silva has had in the ufc with ease. Silva also could easily end hughes will some knees or strikes. I would love to see this fight happen.

[quote comment="103985"]Hughes would get smashed…GSP is a tall, great striker a 170.

Silva is taller than GSP and a better striker.

How does Hughes deal with that type of reach advantage?
It puts him an extra 3 inches further away from his opponent.[/quote]
irrelevant, because Hughes won’t be striking with silva, he’ll take him down with his superior strength and wrestling and pound him out. Gsp is another story, very difficult to take down and if Hughes can’t take him down its like shooting fish in a barrel for Gsp unless Hughes manages to pull off another Matt ” the terror ” serra move.

[quote post="2730"]Yo Whad up wit the SilvaHaterRade on blast up in here?? [/quote]

For real. Silva can destroy anyone in his weight class or below in the UFC right now. No questions asked. GSP is the closest thing to Silva in his weightclass. And even GSP is no match for Silva.

Does anyone remember how much Matt Hughes weighed in at for his fight against Royce Gracie??? I remember that being an open weight match, and he came in over 170. I think it was around 178 or so…

i personally think hughes would give silva the most trouble in the ufc aside from a 205er coming down.

i mean silva is beatable, but we havn’t seen someone really fight him that was really willing to let em go. we are kind of seeing a liddell complex here. leben didn’t look thrilled to be there, neither did lutter or franklin, and marquardt didn’t look too pleased either. i mean silva is a monster, but hes not a one punch knock out guy, its that 3rd or 4th one that he hits you with that gets you, kind of like lidell.

i give hughes a much better chance than franklin, he might just be cocky enough to walk through a punch or two to get his hands on him. and i dont see the size being that different, as silva isnt a huge 185er.

but all in all, i’ll probably still pick silva. he should train with hermes franca on the knees vs the takedown. haha

[quote comment="104023"]Does anyone remember how much Matt Hughes weighed in at for his fight against Royce Gracie??? I remember that being an open weight match, and he came in over 170. I think it was around 178 or so…[/quote]

Pretty sure it was at 175

[quote comment="104017"][quote comment="103608"][quote comment="103597"]silva is strong n a BJ especialist…. I doubt that Hughes have a chance…[/quote]

If Hughes does not get ko’s by silva on his feet he will out bj silva. He out bj royce gracie last time I checked. [/quote]

I don’t know anything about Hughes’ BJ skills and I’m happy to keep it that way. Unless you meant BJJ?
Anyway Royce was an old man who only ever beat guys with zero ground skills.

[quote comment="104128"][quote comment="104017"][quote comment="103608"][quote comment="103597"]silva is strong n a BJ especialist…. I doubt that Hughes have a chance…[/quote]

If Hughes does not get ko’s by silva on his feet he will out bj silva. He out bj royce gracie last time I checked. [/quote]

I don’t know anything about Hughes’ BJ skills and I’m happy to keep it that way. Unless you meant BJJ?
Anyway Royce was an old man who only ever beat guys with zero ground skills.[/quote]
LOL good one, and the way hughes dominated gracie WAS impressive, gracie is hardly an old man 3 or 4 years younger than couture.

[quote comment="104023"]Does anyone remember how much Matt Hughes weighed in at for his fight against Royce Gracie??? I remember that being an open weight match, and he came in over 170. I think it was around 178 or so…[/quote]
They agreed to meet at 175 hughes was 175.5 gracie was 175 and hughes walks around closer to 190.

[quote comment="103812"]I think that if Hughes beats Serra, he’ll have one last fight with GSP. Win or lose, I think he then will retire.

Silva’s reach advantage over Hughes would likely just be too much for Hughes to fight him, although he had the same advantage over Chonan, and Chonan outfought Silva, even before the submission.[/quote]

Chonan outfought silva? Silva won every single round in fasion and it was chonan’s last ditch attempt at a victory. what fight were you watching

[quote post="2730"]Let’s not forget that Hughes is a wrestler at heart. We all know that wrestlers traditionally cut more weight than any other fighter. If Hughes were a striker he would have probably never fought in the welterweight division. He is a lot stronger than Silva and by fight time I gaurantee he weighs close to 195lbs. He cuts a lot of weight and the weight difference will not be much. In the weight aspect of the fight there will be no disadvantage. Also some of the strongest fighters in the welterweight division have said that Hughes is like having a cement block on your chest for 3 or 5, 5 minute rounds. It would be similar to the Sherk/Franca fight.[/quote]

Point taken about wrestler’s cutting weight. I think you’ll agree that that won’t change the fact thta Silva is still naturally heavier than Matt.

Im not doubting Hughes could walk around at 190… but if he can cut 20lbs, why not put on 10 of muscle… which Im sure he could do.

I think Silva is a great fighter, I think Hughes is a legendary fighter, this would be a great matchup. But make one thing sure, Hughes could fight at 205 and without a doubt be stonger then anyone he faces. Its pretty commonly known that he is one of the strongest MMA fighters in the world…

[quote comment="103975"]I know hughes tried to stand with GSP for a lot of their 2nd fight but I think I remember him trying more than one takedown and getting nothing out of it[/quote]

Not to mention GSP vs Hughes I. Some people believe GSP was winning that fight on the score cards & Matt had to work very hard for his takedowns & struggled with GSP even in the top position.

I don’t know, I think the UFC should have Matt fight a 185er first before he gets Silva, if indeed it goes down. Matt knows how to win and dominate but his striking leaves a huge gap. A guy as strong as Hughes should be able to KO somebody on arm strength alone. Except for his match against Lytle, he landed some decent shots on GSP and BJ standing and given the nature of this sport, those brief moments can potentially end the fight. I’m sure Matt is improving but can he ever be on the level where his striking is a signifigant aspect of his game? A 185lbs Hughes to me honestly is Matt taking an opportunity to glorify himself. If he took the title from Silva I wouldn’t be impressed for the sole reason that he didn’t earn the title. He never fought anybody in that division to earn a title shot and the fact that he’ll never fight Franklin is selfish, what is Rich supposed to do? Drop his ambition for the Title. A great fighter to me should always want to challenge himself and fight anybody no matter what. I want to see somebody like BJ call out Fedor if you’re a professional fighter you would think you would aspire the best and nothing less.

[quote post="2730"]silva is strong n a BJ especialist…. I doubt that Hughes have a chance…

If Hughes does not get ko’s by silva on his feet he will out bj silva. He out bj royce gracie last time I checked.

I don’t know anything about Hughes’ BJ skills and I’m happy to keep it that way. Unless you meant BJJ?[/quote]

LOL, that is great!

Respect to Hughes for desiring the best competition, but he is definitely out classed by Silva…Hughes would get KTFO or Triangle Choked….

OMG Hughes would get rapped worse then Franklin did in the first fight….And maybe worse then Franklin is gonna get beat in the upcoming rematch!!
Enough of these weak UFC fighter running around w/ belts, let the real fighter from Pride come and destroy them all. Wait and see!

[quote comment="103529"]eh Hughes vs. Silva..I dunno what to think about this.
But it won’t happen cause Rich will win.[/quote]
rich will lose again silva only if he change compltly his style, that kind clean and orthodox its very nice but you cannot win al;l time,
of my experience street fitgher and international judo player unfortunatly to old to squize my self with them.

[quote comment="115981"][quote comment="103529"]eh Hughes vs. Silva..I dunno what to think about this.
But it won’t happen cause Rich will win.[/quote]
rich will lose again silva only if he change compltly his style, that kind clean and orthodox its very nice but you cannot win al;l time,
of my experience street fitgher and international judo player unfortunatly to old to squize my self with them.[/quote]

He doesnt have to completely change his style he just needs to defend against the thai clinch and knees better. If he clips silva with a good punch its all over.

[quote post="2730"]Oh my god! I actually hope Franklin loses now, I want to see this! Matt Hughes is going to look like a MONSTER at 185. I would pick Hughes to win though. [/quote]
He had problems dealing with GSP’s striking ,but he’s going to beat Silva ,I don’t know about that.

HUGHES WOULDNT STAND A CHANCE AGIANST ANDERSON.. if you think different your crazy. HUGHES IS OVERATED… wow he beat a rusty bj penn , he beat a washed up royce gracie .. Josh Koshchek would beat hughes.. Matt serra will.

I was very intrigued when I first read this quote. However after giving it some thought unfortunatly this bout will not occur in the near future. If Matt Hughes beats Matt Serra in December, which is highly likely, he won’t forfit the belt to compete in a higher weight class (as Bas Rutten did in 1999). However reading this quote did spark my immagination and made me think “what if these super stars fought?” Would Matt Hughes’ domminant wrestling be two much for Anderson Silva? Would Hughes fall to another temendous striker like he did @ UFC 65 against Georges St. Pierre? If this dream matchup ever does come to fruition I believe Anderson Silva’s Standup is far supirrior to Matt Hughes’ and if Hughes takes him down he does have one of the finest ground games in the sport, a part of his game that is much overlooked. But if this All-Star bout ever does happen it will provide much needed depth to a depleated middleweight division.

[quote comment="103667"]I want to see Anderson Silva vs GSP and Hughes vs Henderson.[/quote]
why would gsp move at all?he wants to be welter weight world champion and that’s what he’ll be, only this time he wants to stay there eh!gsp hasen’t said anything about moving up in weight class,even though he walks around at 190lbs. he’d be stupid to move up,and i don’t think he’s even thinking about it! i can’t understand why matt hughes would move up when he can’t even dominate the welterweight division!does he have a death wish? anderson silva would destroy hughes and send him back to ww with his tail bettwen his legs or possibly into retirement! now hughes vs henderson, i still don’t think hughes would stand a chance. henderson is the more experienced wrestler,an excellent striker,a larger man and i don’t think hughes would stand a chance. for hughes i think his best option is to concentrate on the ww division,but his days of dominating the division are over!he might do well to think about retirement,except there are still some money fights out there for him. if hughes decides to move up after silva destroys franklin,again,than hughes might get a discount with riches plastic surgeon. silva will severely mess him up!eh!

i really just think it’s really stupid talking about this guy and that moving divisions. do they all think they’re randy couture? they should be thinking about who they’re going to have to face in their own divisions. anderson silva is dominating the middleweight division right now and may for some time. randy couture has proven for now that he’s the dominant heavyweight.we’ll see if fedor ever gets signed? but the welterweight division is wide open.why can’t guys like hughes concentrate on their own divisions. is hughes scarred of what is coming in the ww’s?the division is deep!if he is than why talk about facing silva where he will get destroyed! i think it’s just bullshit talk because i think he knows anderson silva would hurt him bad. i don’t believe he really has any intention of moving up!i mean does he really think he’s that better than rich…i don’t think so super hero! personally i think matts’ all talk eh!

You guys are funny to think that “moving up” to 185 would be hard for Hughes – he walks around heavier than that and cuts to 170 for the fight. He’s probably already back up to at least 185 by the fight.

And yes I know this is an old article, but still relevant considering Hughes still wants to fight Silva.