Although Matt Hughes (45-8 MMA, 18-6 UFC) is giving up eight years of age to Diego Sanchez (23-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC), don't expect Hughes to take Sanchez lightly. However, in a recent interview with mmajunkie.com, Hughes explains he feels comfortable with his place in the UFC and is no longer concerned about who he fights.
"I'm at that stage right now where I'm taking interesting fights," Hughes said at a recent UFC Fight Club Q&A session. "I had the belt. [St-Pierre] has beaten me two out of three times. Nobody wants to see a fourth fight between him and I, so I'm just going to take it easy, fight interesting fights, and that's it."
While Sanchez's accomplishments don't yet stack up to to the former champ's impressive résumé, Hughes had no hesitation in accepting the matchup.
"What I like about it is I think it's a fight the fans will want to tune into," Hughes said. "Diego, mentally he's tough. He's going to come to fight all three rounds. You don't have to worry about Diego going away after the first or second round.
"Striking, takedowns, submissions, he's pretty equal all the way around. Of course, if he gets on top, that's where he really shines. I just think it's a good matchup."
Hughes is experiencing a bit of a career resurgence after rattling off wins over Ricardo Almeida, Renzo Gracie and Matt Serra. However, this matchup with Diego might be his toughest yet. Sanchez is coming off from an absolute battle with Martin Kampmann. Not to mention, Diego has two straight "fight of the night" bonuses (Kampmann and Thiago) and will be looking to keep the streak going.
Hughes vs Sanchez is set for September 24th at UFC 135 in Denver, Colorado.
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