ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 23 — Be it the way he is wired, his upbringing on a farm in Illinois or his adolescent slugfests with twin brother Mark, Matt Hughes (Pictures) developed the heart of a champion at an early age and it was on display once again at the Arrowhead Pond on Saturday night.
Things did not start out smoothly for the champion.
Penn was buzzing around the cage during the first frame, scoring well on his feet and denying the takedown to Hughes, a former All-American wrestler. The frustrated champion found himself on the receiving end of a number of solid shots and the damage began to mount.
Midway through the round Penn threw a left hand that missed its target, only to catch Hughes with his thumb on the follow through. Hughes immediately motioned to referee “Big” John McCarthy, drawing his attention to the unintentional foul. After a brief respite that saw the ringside physician give the go ahead, Hughes and Penn were back at it.
The first period came to a close with Penn controlling with his crisper striking and takedown defense. Hughes returned to his corner wearing a nice welt under his right eye — a product of the thumb — and blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
What he didn’t have was a care in the world.
“When I was walking back to my corner I was smiling and I was smiling at B.J.,” Hughes told Sherdog.com after the fight. “I was having a good time out there. I could have done without the thumb in the eye but you know what, I had a good time out there and that’s what it’s all about.”
The second round saw things get even bleaker for the champ. Penn looked the fresher of the two and was having his way once again by continuing to deny the takedown and landing well in the stand-up. As round two ticked away to the final minute it looked like Hughes would once again have to relinquish his belt to the talented Hawaiian when Penn locked up a very tight triangle choke.
“It was close,” Hughes said. “Actually I had pressure on me and I was able to get my hand in there, pull the leg a little bit, and I said a little prayer down there. And the next thing I knew the horn went off.”
The welterweight champion never cracked under the immense pressure and soon the tide would turn.
“I was thinking the more the fight went on the better off I was going to be,” responded Hughes when asked what was going through his mind after the first two rounds.
With his prayer answered and a belief that he could outlast his foe, Hughes soon set off on a course of action that would cement his place on the pantheon of great mixed martial artists.
He took advantage of a visibly winded Penn, scoring at will on the feet before dumping his challenger to the mat and securing a dominant position.
In what was eerily reminiscent of his bout with Carlos Newton (Pictures) at UFC 38, Hughes, from side-control, locked up Penn’s left arm with his legs and pinned his right arm with his left. This left Hughes right hand free to pound away at Penn’s head. After a number of powerful shots landed, referee McCarthy was left with no choice but to rescue the defenseless challenger. “Matt’s a gamer,” said Hughes boxing coach Matt Pena, “so I knew Matt was going to come back.”
Pena went on to detail the effects grappling with Hughes tends to have on his opponents and why they felt they could wear Penn down.
“I told people from the beginning, I mean if Matt has him on the ground … he puts a lead blanket on him. People don’t realize what its like to get back up and I think they kind of seen that as [Penn] started to go back to his corner at the end of the second round.”
“I still love competing,” Hughes stated. “I get to compete, I get to provide for my family. That’s why I do it.”
It seems Hughes will be back in there competing sooner than most anticipated, as it was announced that he will be facing UFC 170-pound No. 1 contender Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) on November 18 at UFC 65.
In Saturday’s co-main event, Mike Swick (Pictures) took a big step up in competition when he squared off with the always-tough David Loiseau (Pictures). Swick passed his middleweight test with a unanimous decision win that may vault him to the head of the line for Rich Franklin (Pictures)’s middleweight crown.
Swick’s meteoric rise up the UFC middleweight ranks has been nothing short of spectacular. He had spent a total of five minutes 10 seconds in the Octagon en route to a perfect 4-0 record since joining the UFC roster. It was apparent early on that he would have to work a little overtime to get the job done against Loiseau.
Swick came out slinging the leather early, while Loiseau was like a rock and would not budge. “The Crow” may have been a bit tentative in the early going after taking a considerable amount of punishment at the hands of Franklin his last time out — and it probably cost him the fight.
By the time Loiseau got going towards the end of the second round Swick had already banked enough points to garner the eventual decision. With his lighting fast hands, Swick had piled up the scoring shots for nearly 10 minutes before Loiseau could get on track.
Knowing he had to make something happen, Loiseau exploded in the third, doing damage with his favorite weapon: devastating elbows. Swick did his best to avoid the dangerous blows but he could not avoid them all, as attested by the big knot on the left side of his head.
Swick survived the all-out efforts of Loiseau in the third to claim his fifth UFC win, and he was not bashful about his desire to test himself against the winner of the Franklin-Anderson Silva match scheduled for October 14.
“If I am not ready I will take my beating like a man,” Swick told Sherdog.com shortly after his win. “I am 5-0 and I feel I have earned a shot at the title.”
Under Card Action
Melvin Guillard (Pictures) survived being mounted late in the first round to score a knockout victory over Gabe Ruediger (Pictures) with a vicious body shot at 1:01 of the second round.
Rashad Evans (Pictures) advanced up the light heavyweight charts with a dominating knockout win over a very tough Jason Lambert (Pictures). Evans, plagued by his inability to finish early on in his UFC career, answered his critics with his convincing series of punches that left Lambert prone on the canvas at 2:22 of the second round.
In what may have been one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, Jens Pulver (Pictures), the only 155-pound champion in UFC history, found himself on the wrong end of a Joe Lauzon (Pictures) left hook that sent him crashing to the mat just 48 seconds into what was supposed to be his welcome back to the UFC fight. It is not apparent if Pulver will still be slotted as one of the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 5.
Preliminary Bouts
Roger Huerta (Pictures) and Jason Dent (Pictures) put on a display of aggression and determination for the in-house crowd. Huerta, battling through a nagging elbow injury, took a unanimous decision (30-27 on all three cards).
Eddie Sanchez opened the second round with a blistering overhand right that ended the night of Mario Neto just 17 seconds into the period.
Jorge Gurgel (Pictures) battled to a unanimous decision win over TUF 3 alumnus Danny Abbadi. In a close fight, Gurgel did enough in the judges’ eyes to win a 29-28 decision on all three cards. The fight was originally announced as a split decision, but was later reversed after it was determined that one of the cards was tabulated incorrectly.
Promising lightweight prospect Tyson Griffin (Pictures) made quick work of David Lee (Pictures) winning by rear-naked choke at 1:50 of the first round. Griffin is rumored to be one of the contestants on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.