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BY SHAWN ENNIS, MMATORCH SENIOR COLUMNIST
Matt Hughes is the most dominant champion in the history of the UFC, and perhaps in the relatively short history of the sport of mixed martial arts. His recently-avenged loss to BJ Penn in 2004 is the only loss he has suffered in over five years. He has taken on and beaten all comers. Certainly the champ has nothing left to prove. So why did it trouble me so much when I read on Sherdog.com that Hughes was planning on hanging up the gloves after his current contract with the UFC expires? He doesn?t need to convince me that he?s the best, because I know it. So why shouldn?t he be allowed to go out on top?
See, here?s my problem. I?m a selfish guy, and when Hughes retires, I don?t want there to be any "what if?" questions lingering. In the realm of sports in general and contact sports in particular, one can rarely speak in absolutes. But Hughes has a chance to be one of the few guys to be universally considered unbeatable when he decides to retire, and it would take more than the two fights he has left on his contract. Not much more, mind you, but a little.
First, he?s obviously got to stop the unstoppable force that is the phenomenal Georges St. Pierre on Saturday night. GSP is the consensus number one contender, and he could render this column moot with a victory in six days, but I?ll leave that point alone for the moment. With a victory over the Canadian this weekend, Hughes can answer the first question, being whether he can best a more experienced and confident St. Pierre than the man he faced two years ago. Should this happen, Hughes will have one fight left on his contract, and the next opponent for the welterweight champion was decided this past Saturday as Matt Serra squeaked by Chris Lytle in the Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale.
In my humble opinion, a victory over the tough Serra would be a formality. "The Terror" is by no means a pushover, but Hughes is just too strong and too good for the jiu-jitsu master to beat on the ground or on the feet. Serra would be better suited to return to the lightweight division, as I don?t think he stands a chance, as good as he is, against the top four or five welterweights in the UFC. So should the report be true that Hughes plans to retire after he fights out the remainder of his contract, he would end with a victory over Matt Serra. Quality opponent though Serra may be, I don?t think he?s the caliber of opponent suitable to be the last fighter faced by the most dominant welterweight the sport has ever seen. So then what should Hughes do should he get past both St. Pierre and Serra to retain his long-held welterweight crown? I?d like to see him take two more fights.
The first opponent I?d like to see Hughes face is the cocky, undefeated Diego Sanchez, should Sanchez still be undefeated. I don?t see Joe Riggs taking "Nightmare" out in December, and if it weren?t for the TUF 4 winner Serra getting an automatic title shot, Sanchez would likely be the next in line. So in all likelihood Sanchez would have to win two more fights before fighting for the gold. Now, I?m not saying that Hughes needs to prove himself against a fighter as young and relatively inexperienced as Sanchez. But it?s one of those "what if?" things. It?s not that big of a stretch to think that Sanchez could possibly hold the gold when the smoke clears if Hughes were to vacate the premises. So imagine that you?ve got Sanchez as your champion?a guy who never faced the indomitable retired champ, but who makes no bones about the fact that he would have soundly beaten Hughes if the former champ was still around. Do you want to have to wonder whether Sanchez could actually have beaten Hughes? I don?t. I told you, I'm selfish. I want that question answered before Hughes steps down. And if Diego were to join the host of others through whom the champ has plowed on his path to MMA immortality, there would be only one question left to answer in the welterweight division, and it would be a question to be asked for the third time.
B.J. Penn. Yes, Hughes already beat him. Yes, Penn is reportedly moving back down to 155 pounds. There's no question in many peoples' mind that Hughes could beat Penn again given the chance. And yet the question marks linger like the tickle in the back of my throat that drives me nuts. If Penn goes on a tear in the lightweight division and builds some momentum, are you telling me you don't want to see a rubber match? Penn's cardio was called into question initially after the last fight (I was also one who wondered how Penn could gas under those circumstances), but with the recent confirmation of a painful injury suffered by "The Prodigy" while trying to apply a fight-ending submission hold at the end of the second round, I wonder what would have happened if a healthy Penn had answered the bell in the third round. I'm not trying to take anything away from Hughes' victory, mind you. A lesser fighter would have been caught in the triangle/armbar applied by Penn and not been able to attempt the escape and ride out the round. Hughes did it, then came back completely fresh for round three and took Penn apart. Of his victory there is no question. But the last part in a trilogy between these two fighters could be one for the ages.
The question remains whether Hughes actually plans to retire after his contract is over, and if you believe what he said during the show on Saturday night, he's still got some fight left in him. That could mean a lot of things, but I hope it means that we'll see Hughes around for at least another year. I'm not going to begrudge the guy for wanting to spend more time with his family. It's just me being selfish. I want to see what Hughes can continue to do. Add to what I've already talked about the rogue's gallery of up and coming potential contenders in the welterweight division, and the possibility that Hughes is toying with moving up to middleweight to attempt to hold two titles in two weight classes at the same time, and there's enough to keep the champ busy for many events to come. But that's all future talk. For now, I just want to see a few more fights.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Torch_Flashbacks_32/article_11404.shtml
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