Matt Hughes: The Miletich Factor

By Josh Stein on May 13, 2009

Since leaving MFS, we've seen a different Matt Hughes.

There’s a part of me that initially wrote Matt Hughes off as an old guy.

Curtis, of course, will resent that, given that he thinks Matt Hughes is still legitimate, and there are a lot of people who do. Still, when a fighter has dropped three of his last four fights, getting finished in all of his defeats and failing to finish Chris Lytle (though Lytle’s a pretty respectable guy, he’s someone Hughes really should have destroyed) it’s important to ask, “why?”

Why, all of a sudden, is Matt Hughes falling from that spot as the number two welterweight and resident slam-master? Why, now, is Hughes looking older and more confused with every fight?

Like I said, for a while I thought it was age, but Hughes is only 35 and his conditioning still seems solid. I don’t think his strength has dissipated at all. The problem, I’m starting to realize, looks to be a problem with the change of venue, the change in where he’s going to work out with every day, and with whom.

Most fighters don’t stay in one place for their entire career, but most fighter’s aren’t Matt Hughes, and most fighters don’t train with Pat Miletich (though many do) and the more I think about this, the more I see that Hughes’ problems may be an issue of coaching changes.

Firstly, I want to clear the air of my biases. I don’t like Matt Hughes much, and I think that Pat Miletich is one of the greatest trainers in the history of the sport, as well as one of the great champions. So, with that in the open, let me get to the point

Since leaving Miletich, we saw Matt apply an incredibly strange tactic: stand and trade.

Matt Hughes’ hands are terrible, and it makes me wonder how much Pat (a very knowledgable striker) bothered to teach him of the standup game. That said, Hughes doesn’t have a substantial striking coach. He has Robbie Lawler, but Lawler’s technical ability, on the feet, isn’t at the same level as Pat Miletich, and I’m not sold on his ability to teach the skills (which is part of what makes Pat’s camp a champion-factory, though certainly only one part).

Hughes is a great fighter, but his gameplans have been unimpressive lately, and the holes in his came seem to splitting further, and not closing up. At 35, it seems obvious that Matt’s best days are behind him. After a year off, recovering from an injury and his destruction at the hands of the overweight Thiago Alves, Matt is looking to return against Matt Serra and, whatever we think of this matchup, it is certainly not the matchup we would have seen from them as champions.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Matt Hughes who slammed out of a rear naked choke from Frank Trigg and responded quickly with some karmic payback is no longer with us. The Matt Hughes of today is more focussed on running his own gym than reclaiming a title, because he has to be. After all, he has a gym to run, but I have little doubt that not being able to focus on fighting has hurt Matt, and may cause him to fall from the top tier. I suppose Matt Serra will have an opportunity to prove that later this month, and the rest of us will have to wait and watch.

Filed Under: MMA

Tags: Matt Hughes • Pat Miletich • UFC 98

About the Author: Joshua Stein is a writer and editor for MMA Opinion. He has worked as a photographer and journalist and has a number of print journalism credits. He also works as a moderator for MMAForum.com and a grappling columnist (covering judo, collegiate wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling) for profighting-fans.com.