Matt Hughes (45-9, 34) was born in Hillsboro, Illinois, U.S. on October 13, 1973. At the age of 24 years on January 1, 1998, he made his professional MMA debut against Erick Snyder, winning the fight via 1st-round KO.
On September 24, 1999, 25-year old Matt Hughes made his UFC debut on his 10th professional MMA fight at UFC 22 against Valeri Ignatov, winning the fight via 3-round unanimous decision.
He became the UFC welterweight champion on November 2, 2001 at age 28 on his 33rd professional MMA fight at UFC 34 after defeating a 25-year old Carlos Newton via 2nd-round KO.
Hughes' last fight was a 1st-round KO loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 135 at age 37 on September 24, 2011. He retired on a 2-fight losing streak.
He has fought 25 times in the UFC, and has a record of 18 wins and 7 losses in the promotion.
Some of Matt Hughes' best fights have been against Gil Castillo, Frank Trigg, Georges St-Pierre, Carlos Newton, B.J. Penn, Hayato Sakurai and Sean Sherk.
Hughes has 9 losses on his MMA record.
| # | Date | Opponent | Promotion | Weight | Round | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
54  | Sep 24, 2011 37 years, 11 months 45-9 (34) | 33 years, 9 months 15-5 (9) | UFC | WL | 1 | KO | LOSS Punches |
53  | Nov 20, 2010 37 years, 1 months 45-8 (34) | 31 years, 11 months 15-7-1 (12) | UFC | WL | 1 | KO | LOSS Punches |
52  | Aug 7, 2010 36 years, 9 months 45-7 (34) | 33 years, 8 months 12-3 (5) | UFC | WL | 1 | CKO | WIN Anaconda choke |
51  | Apr 10, 2010 36 years, 5 months 44-7 (34) | 43 years 13-6-1 (9) | UFC | WL | 3 | TKO | WIN Leg kicks and punches |
50  | May 23, 2009 35 years, 7 months 43-7 (33) | 34 years, 11 months 12-5 (7) | UFC | WL | 3 | UD | WIN |
49  | Jun 7, 2008 34 years, 7 months 42-7 (33) | 24 years, 8 months 15-5 (11) | UFC | WL | 2 | TKO | LOSS Flying knee and punches |
48  | Dec 29, 2007 34 years, 2 months 42-6 (33) | 26 years, 7 months 14-2 (10) | UFC | WL | 2 | SUB | LOSS Armbar For UFC welterweight title Interim |
47  | Mar 3, 2007 33 years, 4 months 42-5 (33) | 32 years, 6 months 22-13-5 (18) | UFC | WL | 3 | UD | WIN |
46 | Nov 18, 2006 33 years, 1 months 41-5 (33) | 25 years, 5 months 12-1 (9) | UFC | WL | 2 | TKO | LOSS Head kick and punches Lost UFC welterweight title |
45 | Sep 23, 2006 32 years, 11 months 41-4 (33) | 27 years, 9 months 10-3-1 (7) | UFC | WL | 3 | TKO | WIN Punches Defended UFC welterweight title |
44  | May 27, 2006 32 years, 7 months 40-4 (32) | 39 years, 5 months 13-1-3 (12) | UFC | WL | 1 | TKO | WIN Punches |
43  | Nov 19, 2005 32 years, 1 months 39-4 (31) | 23 years, 1 months 23-5 (22) | UFC | WL | 1 | SUB | WIN Kimura |
42  | Apr 16, 2005 31 years, 6 months 38-4 (30) | 32 years, 11 months 12-2 (12) | UFC | WL | 1 | SUB | WIN Rear-naked choke Defended UFC welterweight title |
41 | Oct 22, 2004 31 years 37-4 (29) | 23 years, 5 months 7-0 (6) | UFC | WL | 1 | SUB | WIN Armbar Won UFC welterweight title Vacant |
40  | Jun 19, 2004 30 years, 8 months 36-4 (28) | 30 years, 10 months 4-0 (3) | UFC | WL | 3 | UD | WIN |
39 | Jan 31, 2004 30 years, 3 months 35-4 (28) | 25 years, 1 months 6-1-1 (5) | UFC | WL | 1 | SUB | LOSS Rear-naked choke Lost UFC welterweight title |
38 | Nov 21, 2003 30 years, 1 months 35-3 (28) | 31 years, 6 months 10-1 (10) | UFC | WL | 1 | SUB | WIN Rear-naked choke Defended UFC welterweight title |
37  | Apr 25, 2003 29 years, 6 months 34-3 (27) | 29 years, 8 months 19-0-1 (10) | UFC | WL | 5 | UD | WIN Defended UFC welterweight title |
36  | Nov 22, 2002 29 years, 1 months 33-3 (27) | 37 years, 1 months 9-1 (5) | UFC | WL | 1 | TKO | WIN Doctor stoppage Defended UFC welterweight title |
35  | Jul 13, 2002 28 years, 9 months 32-3 (26) | 25 years, 10 months 11-5 (9) | UFC | WL | 4 | TKO | WIN Punches Defended UFC welterweight title |
34  | Mar 22, 2002 28 years, 5 months 31-3 (25) | 26 years, 6 months 19-1-2 (12) | UFC | WL | 4 | TKO | WIN Punches Defended UFC welterweight title |
33 | Nov 2, 2001 28 years 30-3 (24) | 25 years, 2 months 10-4 (8) | UFC | WL | 2 | KO | WIN Slam Won UFC welterweight title |
32 | Sep 8, 2001 27 years, 10 months 29-3 (23) | Steve Gomm | MD | 2 | TKO | WIN Punches | |
31  | Aug 11, 2001 27 years, 9 months 28-3 (22) | 30 years, 10 months 15-8 (9) | MD | 3 | MD | WIN | |
30 | Jul 13, 2001 27 years, 9 months 27-3 (22) | Chatt Lavender | MD | 3 | SUB | WIN Arm-triangle choke | |
29 | Jun 16, 2001 27 years, 8 months 26-3 (21) | Scott Johnson | MD | 1 | KO | WIN Punch | |
28 | May 11, 2001 27 years, 6 months 25-3 (20) | John Cronk | MD | 1 | TKO | WIN Submission to punches | |
27 | Mar 31, 2001 27 years, 5 months 24-3 (19) | Bruce Nelson | MD | 1 | SUB | WIN Guillotine choke | |
26 | Mar 17, 2001 27 years, 5 months 23-3 (18) | Brett Al-azzawi | Rings | MD | 1 | SUB | WIN Armbar |
25 | Feb 8, 2001 27 years, 3 months 22-3 (17) | José Landi-Jons | MD | 1 | KO | LOSS Knee | |
24  | Dec 16, 2000 27 years, 2 months 22-2 (17) | 25 years 17-4 (12) | UFC | 1 | SUB | LOSS Armbar | |
23 | Nov 12, 2000 27 years 22-1 (17) | Maynard Marcum | Rings | 1 | SUB | WIN Keylock | |
22 | Sep 30, 2000 26 years, 11 months 21-1 (16) | Robbie Newman | Rings | 1 | SUB | WIN Arm-triangle choke | |
21  | Aug 23, 2000 26 years, 10 months 20-1 (15) | 31 years, 2 months 12-7 (11) | 2 | UD | WIN | ||
20 | Jun 29, 2000 26 years, 8 months 19-1 (15) | Joe Guist | 1 | SUB | WIN Armbar | ||
19 | Jun 9, 2000 26 years, 7 months 18-1 (14) | Marcelo Aguiar | UFC | 1 | TKO | WIN Doctor stoppage | |
18 | May 21, 2000 26 years, 7 months 17-1 (13) | Shawn Peters | 1 | SUB | WIN Arm-triangle choke | ||
17 | May 13, 2000 26 years, 7 months 16-1 (12) | Alexandre Barros | 3 | UD | WIN | ||
16 | Apr 15, 2000 26 years, 6 months 15-1 (12) | Eric Davila | 2 | SUB | WIN Keylock | ||
15 | Jan 15, 2000 26 years, 3 months 14-1 (11) | Jorge Pereira | 1 | TKO | WIN Doctor stoppage | ||
14 | Nov 20, 1999 26 years, 1 months 13-1 (10) | Daniel Vianna | 1 | TKO | WIN Cut | ||
13  | Nov 13, 1999 26 years, 1 months 12-1 (9) | 25 years, 11 months 7-3 (7) | 2 | SUB | WIN Rear-naked choke | ||
12 | Nov 13, 1999 26 years, 1 months 11-1 (8) | Tom Schmitz | 1 | TKO | WIN Eye injury | ||
11  | Nov 13, 1999 26 years, 1 months 10-1 (7) | 22 years, 1 months 5-1 (5) | 2 | TKO | WIN Submission to knees and punches | ||
10 | Sep 24, 1999 25 years, 11 months 9-1 (6) | Valeri Ignatov | UFC | 3 | UD | WIN | |
9  | May 29, 1999 25 years, 7 months 8-1 (6) | 24 years, 7 months 8-6-2 (5) | 3 | UD | WIN | ||
8 | Apr 24, 1999 25 years, 6 months 7-1 (6) | Erick Snyder | 1 | TKO | WIN Slam | ||
7 | Apr 2, 1999 25 years, 5 months 6-1 (5) | Joe Stern | 1 | TKO | WIN Punches | ||
6 | Dec 11, 1998 25 years, 1 months 5-1 (4) | Ryan Stout | 2 | TKO | WIN Corner stoppage | ||
5 | Oct 17, 1998 25 years 4-1 (3) | 22 years, 10 months 10-0 (8) | 1 | CKO | LOSS Guillotine choke | ||
4  | Oct 17, 1998 25 years 4-0 (3) | 24 years, 2 months 9-3-1 (6) | 1 | UD | WIN | ||
3 | Oct 17, 1998 25 years 3-0 (3) | Victor Hunsaker | 1 | TKO | WIN Punches | ||
2 | Apr 25, 1998 24 years, 6 months 2-0 (2) | Craig Quick | 1 | TKO | WIN Submission to punches | ||
1 | Jan 1, 1998 24 years, 2 months 1-0 (1) | Erick Snyder | 1 | KO | WIN Slam |
