The MMA sewing circle continues to buzz about a potential UFC match-up between grappling and MMA legend Renzo Gracie versus the formerly dominant welterweight destroyer, Matt Hughes. Nothing is official at this time, however
Heavy.com seems to be the source of the reports along with
Lorenzo Fertitta's Twitter post about bringing Renzo to the UFC.
It seems bizarre that this would actually be Renzo Gracie's first fight inside the octagon. He bears an overall MMA record of 13-6-1, with old school wins over Oleg Taktarov, Sanae Kikuta, and Maurice Smith. Renzo has only 10 MMA fights under his belt outside of the 1990's, where he went a disappointing 4-6, but he is (somewhat) currently riding a 3-fight win streak over fellow legends Carlos Newton, Pat Miletich, and Frank Shamrock, although the Shamrock fight in EliteXC ended with a controversial disqualification due to illegal knees.
Country boy Matt Hughes has drastically tapered off his fierce fighting schedule over the last few years, competing only twice in '07 and once each in '08 and '09, which is a congruent pattern to the downward slope of his esteemed fighting career. When Georges St. Pierre headkicked Hughes at UFC 65 and avenged a previous submission loss to Hughes while assuming his role as the unstoppable welterweight champion, Hughes went on to display uncharacteristic vulnerability by going 2-2, losing the rubber match with St. Pierre and succumbing to rising contender Thiago Alves while earning decisions over Chris Lytle and Matt Serra.
There is somewhat of a story line that can be drawn from the Renzo/Hughes fight should it take place, which begins with Hughes' merciless beating of the one and only Royce Gracie at UFC 60, in a fight that to this day is difficult to endure. Matt Serra, a student under Renzo Gracie and the first American to be awarded a black belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu, had hopes of avenging the Gracie family name in his UFC 98 grudge match with Hughes, but fell short on the cards.
