Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes is one of the greatest competitors that the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has ever seen. He has a very solid background in wrestling: Matt was a two-time state champion in high school, a high school All-American, and a four-time collegiate All-American wrestler. Whilst he was coaching wrestling at Eastern Illinois University Matt adapted his skills to MMA. He trains with the world-renowned fight school Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) and currently holds a record of 37-4-0.

Frank Trigg

Hailing from Rochester, New York, Frank ‘Twinkle Toes’ Trigg is a serious contender at welterweight. He has held the WFA welterweight belt and has beaten some of the best welterweight fighters the sport has to offer. His strength is his wrestling ability and he has worked constantly on his striking and submission skills. Never short of a few words, Frank has the ability to really build a fight but unlike many people who ‘talk the talk’, the master of ‘Trigganomics’ can really ‘walk the walk’. Trigg currently holds a record of 12-4-0

Classic fight No. 9

As with many fights involving Trigg, there was a very big build-up to this battle. Hughes and Trigg had met previously at UFC 45: Revolution. The outcome of that fight was an illustration from Matt Hughes of how much he had progressed from being mainly a wrestler to becoming a very well-rounded MMA athlete by securing a standing rear naked choke on Trigg that Trigg was unable to power out of. That, incidentally, earned Matt the tap out submission of the night and allowed him to retain his welterweight title.

Second time lucky?

Trigg approached the ring with his trainer Ricco Chipperelli and other members of the R-1 fighting team. He had said that this was the right time for him. He was in a different place mentally compared to when he first fought Hughes. He looked to be very calm and very focused on the job at hand, fully believing that it would be his night, his redemption and his title after the smoke had cleared!

Next it was Hughes’s turn to enter the Octagon. As ‘A Country Boy Can Survive’ blasted across the PA system, Matt walked down to the Octagon accompanied by his entourage —colleagues from the Miletich Fighting Systems and Matt’s twin brother Mark.

Hughes stripped off his beanie and tracksuit, gave a hug to his entourage and entered the cage, fully prepared to reinforce the notion that he was the worthy champion and in doing so he would shut Trigg up.

Hughes looked over at Trigg in order to stare him out but Trigg would not face him and instead showed him his back during the entire introduction. Trigg has always been the master of the mind game and as the two fighters were called to the center of the Octagon to accept their orders from ref Mario Yamasaki, Trigg put his face right up to Hughes to try and psych him out; he came closer and closer until they touched faces and Hughes violently shoved Trigg back. At this, the crowd erupted into a frenzy as both men returned to their corners, ready for battle. Yamasaki checked they were ready and motioned for them to begin fighting, just as Trigg blew Hughes a kiss. The two athletes approached each other fairly cautiously throwing a few ‘feeling out’ strikes. Both men have a strong basis in wrestling and, indicative of this style, it wasn’t long before they were working the clinch, throwing knees and short strikes to the body and to the head. Trigg managed to back Hughes up slightly with a few well-placed knees that crashed into his opponent’s stomach.

Then came the moment that would begin to make this one of the greatest fights ever seen in the history of MMA: Trigg threw a knee that landed in the groin region of Hughes, being an illegal strike the ref should have stopped the fight in order to let Hughes regain his composure but Yamasaki was badly placed and did not see the groin shot, Hughes shouted out that he had been hit below the belt but as the ref was unsighted he did not call for a cease to the action, he just shouted out warnings.

Everything’s legal ‘til the ref sees it

The vast majority of the audience had seen it and were screaming at the ref. Hughes seemed to be in considerable pain as he backed up and was obviously expecting a break in the action, which never came. Being the world-class combat athlete that he is, Trigg saw the danger that Hughes was in and the opportunity for him to finish the fight. Trigg attacked the champ with the ferocity of a wild man, backing Hughes into the fence and then knocking him down with some vicious strikes.

Finish him!

Trigg jumped on top of his fallen foe and was moving in for the kill using his renowned ground ‘n’ pound techniques. Trigg had secured the full mount, which is a perfect position to unleash an onslaught of mass destruction. Ricco Chipperelli, cornering Trigg, was screaming at Frank to relax and breath in order to stop him blowing all of his energy, but Trigg rained down heavy punches and thudding elbows on the fallen champ, who was now very aware of the fact that he was not going to get time to recover from the low blow and had to concentrate on surviving the mauling that Trigg was handing out. Punch after punch rained down on Hughes and then Trigg saw the opportunity to apply a choke. He sank the choke in and seemed to be locking it, Hughes’s face was showing the strain and starting to turn red, it was becoming a very desperate situation for him. As Trigg squeezed the lock, restricting the blood flow to Hughes’s brain, Hughes somehow managed to roll away slightly, enough to make Trigg release the choke, and he spun out from under Trigg.

Payback’s a bitch!

At this, the crowd became very vocal and very excited. Hughes grabbed Trigg in a body lock and picked him up into the air and charged him over to the other side of the cage, slamming him into the canvas as only Matt Hughes can do. Trigg was showing signs of fatigue, brought about by the onslaught he had dished out earlier on, and was unable to stop Hughes from gaining the mounted position. Hughes started to rain down his own elbows and fists. Trigg was in a very dangerous position and was getting caught with flush blows to his face and skull.

Hughes — the comeback kid

The audience was being whipped up into a frenzy as they were witnessing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport, the ref was screaming at Trigg to intelligently defend himself and the fight camps were screaming at their men to follow their instructions.

Trigg was in serious danger now as Hughes pounded away at him. He knew he had to get out of the position that he was in. He tried to roll out of harm’s way and as he did Hughes saw an opportunity and sunk in a rear naked choke of his own, locking it in the conventional way with the locking arm behind the opponent’s head. Being the experienced veteran that he is, Trigg pulled down on the locking arm releasing the pressure and nullifying the choke. Hughes made another attempt to lock the choke and this time secured it with a cable grip. Trigg had no answer to this and tapped out in dramatic fashion. Yamasaki rushed in to break the choke and declare Hughes the winner. As Hughes rose to his feet he was hugged by Trigg before being mobbed by his team and carried around the octagon.

Winning a title is great, but defend it and it’s yours!

In the post-fight interview, Hughes showed his class by saying that Trigg did just what he should have done and pursued until he was told to stop. He thought that the ref should have called for a break in the action due to the low blow, but as Mario was unsighted it was “no big deal”.

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