Alright, I know that the readership out there is pretty split on mixed martial arts (MMA): some people think it’s the coolest thing to come along since beer, while others seem to take it as another sign of the decline of Western civilization.
As for me, I’m a big fan, and I’m learning some of the martial arts involved in MMA, so expect to see posts on it from time to time. Having said that, I’m pretty psyched about UFC 79 at the end of the month, because not only do we finally get to see the firefight that Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva promises to be (raise your hand if you think that fight has a snowball’s chance in hell of making it to a decision), but we also get the rubber match in the heretofore awesome Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre series.
If you’re not familiar with Hughes, he’s arguably the greatest UFC champ ever, having beaten Carlos Newton (2001) and St. Pierre (2005) for the title and successfully defended his welterweight (170-pound) title seven times. He’s only lost twice since 2001: once to BJ Penn–considered by some to be the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter on Earth–in 2004 and once to St. Pierre in 2006. Clearly, he’s a winner in every sense of the word.
Of course, along the way he’s acquired a reputation for being something of a jerk. Whether he was famously ‘apologizing’ to Joe Riggs’s ladyfriend (“Sorry that I just beat the crap out of your significant other.”), insulting everyone’s favorite de facto 51st state (“Canada’s not really known for its warriors, is it? I mean, can you name some famous warriors from Canada?”), or generally disparaging all of his opponents in one way or another, Hughes has earned a label of ungracious at best or a ‘dick’ (according to current welterweight champ Matt Serra) at worst.
Since I’m not his biggest fan, I enjoy how he’s not planning on changing anything from his last fight (where he was essentially knocked out when St. Pierre nailed him with a brutal head kick) and how he hasn’t watched footage of the last fight. Since he’s known for playing head games, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s lying, but since he’s also known for being an arrogant jerk, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s not.
In any case, courtesy Fightlinker (and Mr. Sunshine), you can enjoy listening to Hughes’ answers, or better still, his non-answers. In fact, he could probably hire himself out to the Bush administration’s press office to give lessons on how to completely stonewall legitimate questions. If you get bored, you can turn it into a little game: see if you can make it through the whole thing without actively rooting for someone to kick him in the head again.
