Could Hughes be in trouble?

bjjafficiionado · May 13th, 2006, 11:41 AM

I was just watching a promo for the Hughes vs. Gracie fight, and Hughes kept saying he would keep them on their feet so that he would be able to pound Gracie where he was weak. Isn't Hughes 5' 8'' and Gracie 6' 2''? Is it really possible for Hughes to overcome a 6'' height difference and pound Gracie on his feet? It seems like Gracie could avoid that sort of confrontation (like he has for most of his career).

Also, this seems like the wrong strategy against Gracie; most of his losses have been against grapplers who could strike on the ground and pull submission holds. Wouldn't Hughes be better off sticking to the ground and pound strategy that has served him well? It seems strange that he kept talking about keeping the fight on their feet.

**eqpfunk** · May 13th, 2006, 03:46 PM

I don't think Hughes is in trouble. He's a really smart fighter who has only been beaten by BJ Penn in his last 17 fights. In the last 10 years Royce has only beaten Takada and Akebono, and had a controversial draw to Yoshida. If Takada can go 15 minutes with Royce, Hughes definitely can. There's no way Royce can take Hughes down. If Hughes is ineffective striking on his feet, he'll take Royce down and ground and pound him. Hughes is the more well rounded fighter and the easy favorite.

tnx4yourhelp · May 14th, 2006, 06:47 AM

just the gracie fighting style alone shoul help gracie win.look at gracies past fights and highlights and instructional videos.in every fight i have seen any gracie fight it is very similiar.wether they are bigger/stronger,smaller/faster,better in subs or striking the gracie will wrap up there opponenet,take it to the ground,dominate the other fighter throwing some blows to there head,making them panic them taking any and all subs that presnet themselves.royce beat frye and severn.now who here is going to try and tell me that matt hughes is a better or stronger or more toughwilled than etither of those guys.clearly severn and frye are bigger,stronger and anyone who gets botht here ankles broken in heel hooks and still makes the fight go to disicion is a tough sob.and gracie has tapped out people who are far better on the ground tham hughes.so what is it that makes everyone absolute that hughes will walk right threw him?mabyue its all the new TUF fans who only know hughes from spike tv and since hughes hasnt lost since starting tuf people think is is the best fighter around.same as ppl think with franklin and chuck,and thought about AA till last ufc.like i have said before i think gracie will win the fight subbing hughes.

bjjafficiionado · May 14th, 2006, 01:25 PM

I think this is a good point, everyone talks about how strong hughes is, but gracie definitely has faced much bigger heavier guys who must have been at least as strong, if not stronger than hughes.

**eqpfunk** · May 14th, 2006, 02:25 PM

Gracie faced stronger opponents back in the day who were either brawlers, karate guys or had never heard of BJJ. BJJ is no big secret these days and every MMA fighter worth half a crap practices it to some extent or knows how to defend against it. Look at Hughes' last 3 fights, he's won by armbar, kimura, and rear naked choke. Granted with Gracie, Hughes is facing a guy who is at the top of the heap as far as skill level in BJJ, but it's not like Hughes is going to be dumfounded by a triangle choke or something. While I don't think Royce is going to be a particularly easy opponent for Hughes, Gracie hasn't been a relevent fighter in years, while Hughe is at the top of his game and still evolving as a fighter. I have this one going to decision with Hughes winning.

**painless2** · May 14th, 2006, 02:41 PM

Will Gracie wear the gi, in light of all of the people learning jui jitsu over the years, or will he forego the trademark gi and go modern? This sould be a great match, and either fighter could easily win with a mistake by the other.

**Ripped Fetish** · May 14th, 2006, 02:43 PM

I predict a long fight on the ground (with nothing really happening and a lot of ref. stand-ups). I keep getting flashbacks of Monson's fight from reality check.

Quote:

Originally Posted by painless2

Will Gracie wear the gi, in light of all of the people learning jui jitsu over the years, or will he forego the trademark gi and go modern? This sould be a great match, and either fighter could easily win with a mistake by the other.

Pretty sure that hes fighting without a gi.

**eqpfunk** · May 14th, 2006, 02:55 PM

Yeah I don't think the NSAC allows gi's. I agree ripped, neither fighter is particularly amazing at striking and I have a feeling they're going to cancel each other out on the ground.

bjjafficiionado · May 14th, 2006, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eqpfunk

Yeah I don't think the NSAC allows gi's. I agree ripped, neither fighter is particularly amazing at striking and I have a feeling they're going to cancel each other out on the ground.

What I'm especially concerned about is that Hughes keeps saying that Gracie is the one who has something to prove in the fight. This may mean he'll be satisfied not to take any chances and to let it go to a decision, which could make it boring.

**eqpfunk** · May 14th, 2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjjafficiionado

What I'm especially concerned about is that Hughes keeps saying that Gracie is the one who has something to prove in the fight. This may mean he'll be satisfied not to take any chances and to let it go to a decision, which could make it boring.

I could see that being the case. Really Hughes has nothing to gain from this fight and can lose some respect as well as mental focus if he loses. This isn't a title fight it's just basically filler until Hughes vs. GSP 2. Kinda sucks that Chuck and Franklin are still recovering from injury as we get stuck with these fights that don't mean anything (Hughes vs. Gracie and Tito vs. Shammy 2) but oh well. I'm hooked and will probably be buying the ppv

**painless2** · May 14th, 2006, 03:59 PM

How much is the PPV, it didn't say on the main UFC site?

**Brock Samson** · May 14th, 2006, 04:18 PM

It was $50 last time I watched, worth every penny. I like both fighters so this is going to be a good fight to watch and my neighbor just got a 44" LCD and said were gonna watch it at his place.

**eqpfunk** · May 14th, 2006, 05:04 PM

UFC Reality Check was $40 I thought.

tnx4yourhelp · May 14th, 2006, 10:50 PM

pro boxing events-44.99$ or 49.99
ufc events -39.99
pride-34.99
KOTC,shooto-29.99
last i checked K-1 was 34.99$
thats in canada.but the american dollar and canadian dollar are within 9 cents of each other now so same prices for both now.

IExcalibui2 · May 16th, 2006, 03:10 AM

hughes says he'll try to keep him on his feet because BJJ is a very ground oriented art, the more hughes is on the ground the more gracie can use off of him. But if hughes keeps that distance from him then he has the correct strategy because thats wut sakuraba (aka the gracie hunter) does. he keeps himself distanced from their grappling and technical work. the gracies are very technical and emphasize technique, but u cant put armbars n stuff to an arm u can grab rite??

i would say hughes would win, but who am i to say? but its easy for the fight to go to royce too, i mean come on..hes a gracie

**PowerHouse** · May 16th, 2006, 11:25 AM

The gracies cant solely depend on there BJJ anymore. Fighters have evolved. I think Hughes is good enough on the ground to not get caught in a sub. I would love to see Hughes KO Gracie with a slam.

My prediction for this fight... Matt Hughes win due to Ref Stoppage in the 2nd.

tnx4yourhelp · May 16th, 2006, 12:03 PM

it seems like everyone feels strongly of the outcome.why not make it interesting and make a avatar or sig bets on this?

**eqpfunk** · May 16th, 2006, 12:32 PM

hmmmm, I'll bite. Tell me more about how this avatar bet thing works.

**PowerHouse** · May 16th, 2006, 01:13 PM

You must be from sherdog thx4yourhelp, because thats the only other place that I no of that people do avatar and sig bets.

Eqpfunk whoever wins the bet gets to pick the losers avatar or signature for a certain amount of time. Of course the avatar or sig will be something stupid or embarassing.

**eqpfunk** · May 16th, 2006, 01:30 PM

Ah, I had a feeling it was something like that. The only problem is thx4 needs to become a big dog before he can have custom avatars. So we'd have to do a sig bet. My money is on Hughes, and I'm assuming thx4 wants Gracie? If Hughes wins, I'll pick something retarded for your sig and if Gracie wins you can pick something for mine. It's on! War Hughes!!