UFC 84


   May 22nd, 2008

This weekend we’ve got a couple of good fights coming up: Tito vs. Machida and Sherk vs. Penn. Been asked a lot about the fight between Sherk and Penn. I really like Sean I hope he goes out there and does well as we’re a lot alike; but I think BJ will have the upper hand in the fight. For sure he will be the better striker and he’s got good takedown defense and he’s got a lot of submission knowledge on the ground. Sean’s got some quick takedowns, very strong where he’s hard to submit, I don’t know that he’s ever been submitted, and one thing Sean will definitely have in his favor is the cardio. So if it ends in the first for second round, I think BJ would be the victor. If it ends after that, I think Sean will outlast him. If it goes to a decision then I think Sean wins.

Training’s going great getting some really good workouts in. Just got done with all my medicals for the fight.

Last Sunday, my brother-in-law has his graduation party out at the farm. I was in charge of the three pork butts (roasts), and six racks of ribs. I was also in charge of water fun. So I came up with the idea of a zip line. It’s 1000 feet of 5/16″ cable running across the pond. From the starting point it’s about 200-220 feet until you hit water so there is a handle to hold onto and you can also put a seat on it to sit, if you don’t think you can hold onto it the whole way. You start about 25 feet off the ground and when you jump off the zip line, you’re about 20 feet from the water (the water’s about 20-25 feet deep). So here’s some pictures from that:

-matt

NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits


   May 15th, 2008

Looking forward to this weekend as I get to spend some time with my friends at the NRA Show in Louisville, Kentucky. My brother and I are heading down there tomorrow. I’ll be signing posters at the DPMS booth for the last two hours of the show tomorrow evening.

On Saturday, I’ll be signing this poster at the Knight Rifles booth from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM:

Knight Rifles

Hope to see some of you there. -matt

Happy Mother’s Day!


   May 11th, 2008

Happy Mother's Day

I just want to wish a happy Mother’s Day to my mom, my wife and all the other mothers out there. -matt

Round 5 Action Figure


   May 7th, 2008

First I want to apologize for not getting the blog up as quick as I wanted. Been working out three times a day and trying to help my brother plant corn this week. We’ve got all the anhydrous on and only about 130 acres of corn in the ground. So now we just have to wait for it to dry up.

Been training down at the gym, that’s going great. Robbie’s getting ready for a fight. Jeremy Horn is also there and brought three of his own guys with him to train for his upcoming UFC fight. So I’ve been somewhat burning the candle at both ends and also trying to spend time with the family.

Round 5 has released their action figures and I think they turned out really good. We got a couple hundred of them in and we’re going to sell them from the store.
Here are some photos of the figure:



Click here to visit the store.

Also, last Thursday we had International out at the gym for their customer appreciation day. Had a great time and here are some photos from that:

-matt

UFC 85 and some other stuff…


   April 29th, 2008

I took the fight with Thiago because I liked the match-up. Obviously, I have to worry about his stand up skills, but on the ground I think I’ll be okay. What I don’t like is the fact that it’s such short notice and that I’ll be across the pond. I’d rather fight in Vegas or in the Midwest, but it will be good to meet some of my fans from England.

This weekend, we will be going to some fights in Effingham, IL. I’ll have two guys fighting there from the gym. For information on the fights, go to www.mercenary-promotions.com. We will be selling HIT Squad and Team Hughes gear. Robbie, Marc Fiore, Matt Pena and myself will all be there.

I’ve started three-a-days (which means I’m doing three practices a day), I’ve got to get in good shape. I’ve been working with Matt Pena on a stand up strategy. It feels good to get back in the gym and work on things. We at the gym just have such a good time being around each other.

Finally, I ran across this the other day and thought it was pretty interesting:

FIREARMS REFRESHER COURSE

“Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.” ~ Thomas Jefferson (This is why Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton want gun control so badly! )

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3. Colt: The original point and click interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it’s about control.
5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
8. If you don’t know your rights, you don’t have any.
9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
10. The United States Constitution (c)1791. All Rights Reserved
11. What part of “shall not be infringed” do you not understand?
12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
14. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.
15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
16. You don’t shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
17. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
19. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.
20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
22. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.
23. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don’t make more.
24. When you remove the people’s right to bear arms, you create slaves.
25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

“Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist ”

IF YOU DON’T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS, PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM !!!

-matt

BREAKING NEWS: June 7th Fight


   April 25th, 2008

June 7th, in England, I fight Thiago Alves. The fight is confirmed, it will be the main event for the card. Dana just called me with the news. Chuck got hurt and couldn’t fight, so he needed a replacement and called me and I said yes. More news as I get it. No matter what happens in this fight, I’ve got Serra next. -matt

Updates On the Truck


   April 24th, 2008

They’ve done some work on the website, 2 Brothers Custom Trucks, they’ve made the pictures easier to download. So it should be a little more user friendly.

They’re working on the bed right now, they had to do a lot of work to the whole truck to make it fit on the ‘06 frame. Right now they’re also putting in the ‘06 pedals for the brake, the gas, and the emergency brake and also finding a place to put the push button 4-wheel drive in the ‘56 cab. Getting done with a lot of it, also doing some tedious work under the hood. They came up with an idea on the wooden bed, they want to cut a piece of steel with a design on it, set it on the bed and then burn the wood through the piece of steel. That way the design would come out on the wood. I’ve thought of a Chevy Bowtie or something like the One More Round logo or Army of The One. I would like to open it up to suggestions in the forums. Check the truck out here and then tell me what you think.

HIT Squad Amateur MMA Class


   April 22nd, 2008

Here’s the video I promised you all yesterday. Here I’m teaching some basic classes at the gym and my webmaster came up with this video just to give you an idea of what goes on in the Amateur/Basic MMA class at the HIT Squad. -matt

GSP’s Win


   April 21st, 2008

Well both fights went like I thought they would. Rich was in much better shape and his striking and takedown defense made him the victor. Glad my buddy was able to pull out a victory.

GSP had a good game plan to take Matt Serra down and wear him out. I found myself rooting for Serra at the end of the second round, I wanted him to make it to the third round. I thought if it would get to the third round GSP would decide to stand up with him and possibly knock him out. I just wanted Matt to get beat on for five rounds, not just two; but I knew the ref was about ready to stop it. The UFC said that if Serra loses I get him, but I don’t know when that will be. I’m going to guess six to eight months, so I’ve found myself watching my diet and exercising more.

Had a bit of excitement here on Friday morning, I got woke up at around 4:37 AM to an earthquake. I was quite confused. I ran out of the bedroom, checked on the kids, they were still sleeping, then went to the front of the house and looked around. The flag we have in the front yard showed there was no wind, and I thought if it was an earthquake some of the neighbor’s lights would come on. After five minutes of looking around, I went back to bed seeing no other lights. When I got to bed, I heard birds chirping and then thought that it probably was an earthquake after all, as birds usually don’t chirp at 4:44 AM. First time I’ve ever been in an earthquake, kind of exciting.

We’re going to post a video here tomorrow of me teaching the intro class at the gym, so stay tuned for that. -matt

GSP vs. Serra


   April 14th, 2008

First off, I went to a show saturday night. We had two guys from the HIT Squad fight: Jacob Hey and C.J. Fernandes. Both won in the first round. The crowd was great, very polite. The fights were in Pekin, which is in IL, and I saw some Team Hughes gear walk in and a few One More Round shirts. There are some pictures from the two fights on the HIT Squad website: thehitsquad.com

Got a friend over Iraq who is a civilian working for government, he goes by Boomer on the Forums. I’ve asked him to come up with one his famous “Boomer Tales.” In it he talks a little bit about what he’s been up to over there and a little bit about the upcoming GSP/Serra fight.

HAIL HAIL Matt Hughes fans!! This is Boomer com’n at yea live from Baghdad! I CAN’T BELIEVE I am all the way across the globe and missing all the HIT Squad action in the MMA world for the month of April. I missed Tommy at the Ultimate Fight Night (I would have been in the crowd), AND I miss’d 2 more of Matt’s modern day gladiators take the field of battle in Illinois. (Again, I would have been in the crowd) My God my God … why .. why has thou forsaken me?? I mean COME ON!!! Hehe, well I can’t be too angry at my job though, it is what funds my treks across the country to support Matt and his warrior band of brothers. I’ve had a few PMs and e-mails from folks asking what it is a civilian government employee like my self does in Iraq. Well, the duties are many and various .. but here is the basics of what I do.

The entire war effort over here falls under a military command called MNF-I or Multi-National Force-Iraq. Every country that puts forces into Iraq falls under this command and a four star General is responsible for it all. This four star General has a staff of one and two star Generals. There is a General over all Intelligence and is called the C2. Under him there is a program called DOMEX, or Document and Media Exploitation. A Colonel is in charge of the DOMEX effort and I’m his deputy .. Or #2. So it’s the four star General, the C2 General, the DOMEX COL, Boomer. Since there is a need for a static knowledge base in intelligence disciplines (or in other words a need for people who know the discipline not to be assigned somewhere else like military folks who rotate in and out of positions every few years) they create government civilian career positions around this need. SO … THAT is how Boomer the civilian government employee has a roll in Iraq!

You can read the rest of the Boomer Tale HERE and also see who he’s picking to win between St. Pierre and Serra.

Since we’re on the subject of GSP/Serra, honestly, I think GSP will win this fight very decisively. I don’t think that a submission will play a role in the fight. Obviously, Matt has power in his hands, so I don’t think Georges will make the same mistake this time of standing right in front of him. So, once again, I think Georges will be victorious. I’ve already asked the UFC that if Serra loses, I get him. -matt