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Mixed Martial Arts (Official Thread)

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Time for Hughes to call it a career

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports Jun 7, 9:29 pm EDT

LONDON ? After Georges St. Pierre thrashed him about like he was a beginner and then submitted him at UFC 79, Matt Hughes admitted that thoughts of retirement had crossed his mind.
At the post-fight news conference in Las Vegas that night, Hughes vowed that he would retire before he?d become anyone?s highlight reel.
But on Saturday, in the main event of UFC 85 at the O2 Arena, Hughes became someone?s highlight reel yet again.
This time, Hughes became a notch on the belt of Thiago Alves, who knocked Hughes out with a perfect left knee in the second round.
As good as the up-and-coming Alves looked ? and he looked plenty good ? it was difficult not to wonder whether he?d have been nearly as successful a few years earlier.
Time, and the changing face of mixed martial arts, has clearly caught up to Hughes. He?s had two reigns as UFC?s welterweight champion, has won nine title fights and had an amazing run of 19 wins in 20 fights, which included victories over luminaries such as B.J. Penn, St. Pierre and Royce Gracie.

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ESPN - Alves handles Hughes, pleads his case for shot at welterweight title - MMA
ESPN.com said:
Alves handles Hughes, pleads his case for shot at welterweight title

LONDON -- Fighting with an injured right ankle, Thiago Alves hammered what looks to be the penultimate nail in the career coffin of welterweight great Matt Hughes at London's O2 arena on Saturday.

The lethal Brazilian Muay Thai specialist survived a spirited first round attack from the former champion to deliver a beautifully-timed flying knee, followed by a crunching right hand to elicit a pertinently-timed stoppage from referee Herb Dean at 1:02 of the second round.

"He's a good fighter, he got me, no doubt," said Hughes moments afterwards.

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ESPN - UFC 85 leaves its mark, in one way or another - MMA
ESPN.com said:
UFC 85 leaves its mark, in one way or another

UFC 85 was plagued with injuries and other problems coming in, so it's perhaps no surprise that some controversy flowed in its wake. But there were also other interesting twists to Saturday's show at the O2 Arena in London.

Here's a look at five of the storylines from a card that could have been dubbed "Cursed" instead of "Bedlam."

1. Roasting referees

Heavyweight Brandon Vera and middleweight Nate Marquardt are looking for rematches -- and new referees -- after losing to Fabricio Werdum and Thales Leites, respectively.

Vera was mounted, protecting his head with his hands and rolling to avoid punishment when Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight with 20 seconds left in the first round.

"That ref sucked ? I don't agree with that stoppage. Yeah, I'm pissed," said Vera. "Sorry."

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Even following loss, Hughes' legacy rock solid - Boxing - CBSSports.com MMA, Results, News
sportsline.com said:
Even following loss, Hughes' legacy rock solid

Matt Hughes' label as the most dominant welterweight of all time is not simple hyperbole. The Hillsboro County, Ill., native strung together 13- and 18-fight winning streaks during his career and dominated the UFC welterweight division with wins over the likes of Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn, Frank Trigg and Royce Gracie. But his dominant career appears to be reaching its end.

Hughes was defeated decisively on two occasions by St. Pierre, but those losses could be explained away as simply running into an unstoppable opponent. Hughes' loss Saturday to Thiago Alves was another matter entirely. Alves is a quality fighter but doesn't have the wrestling or all-around game of St. Pierre. Alves dominated Hughes anyway, neutralizing Hughes' wrestling and punishing him with strikes. It was the sort of performance that brings questions as to whether Hughes still has the skills to defeat the best in his division.

Hughes has excellent wrestling and jiu jitsu, but has never had a high-level standup game. That deficiency is causing him major problems against a new generation of fighters who work overtime to avoid having any exploitable holes in their games. Hughes' lack of standup makes his takedowns more predictable and allows opponents to open up more. It puts Hughes at a serious disadvantage, and makes it appear the game has passed him by.

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