AKA vs Matt Hughes

American Kickboxing Acadamy has been on the hunt for Matt Hughes lately with Josh Koschek, Jon Fitch and Mike Swick each having made public they would like to fight the future Hall of Famer.

To me, it only makes sense, Hughes is on his way down. Similar to what we saw with Chuck Liddell when he lost to Keith Jardin. Liddell went on to defeat his long time rival Wanderlei Silva, same as Matt Hughes rebounded by defeating his long time rival Matt Serra. Hughes knows at this point in his career, if he wants to save his legacy, he has to avoid going down the same path as Liddell did when he faced Rashad Evans.



Evans was not considered very high on the rankings until he knocked out Liddell (Even considering he was 15-0 at the time). His win over Liddell put him on the map as a top 5 Light Heavyweight. Matt Hughes does not want to be that fighter who once was. He wants to remain a legend and wants to fight big names rather then fight for another chance at the title.

Frankly its also smart for Hughes to avoid fights with those he knows wont draw in many PPV buys. If his new contract states he gets a percentage of the PPV buy's, he wants to fight a big name because it would sell more which means more money for him. He's a clever little farmer. He says in his response to AKA he wants big fights to remain motivated,.... Money talks, AKA's poor.

Mike Swick
“(Hughes) runs more risk fighting an up-and-comer, because he doesn’t want to lose to an up-and-comer. So I don’t really know (why he’s not interested) … Koscheck’s available, I’m available, and every other welterweight who I can think of is booked on a fight, so I’m curious, if they do have an opponent for him, I’m curious to see who it is, because if I was in his position, I wouldn’t want to fight just any random welterweight. I’d want to fight a top welterweight who’s doing good.”
MMAmania Interview with Josh Koschek

Adam Wagner: When I first heard about you scheduled to fight Trigg, the first thing I thought was, “Why didn’t the UFC offer Kos the Matt Hughes fight?” given that Trigg and Hughes are somewhat similar in terms of their styles, and you’ve been vocal about wanting that fight in the past. Do you know why they haven’t offered you that fight?

Josh Koscheck: No, I don’t. I’ve been asking for that for a long time. Rumor has it that (Hughes) doesn’t want to fight myself or Jon Fitch. He doesn’t want to be a stepping stone, I guess. But if he wants to get back to title contention, he’s going to have to go through one of us. So I don’t get it, I don’t understand why he doesn’t want to fight one of us. You know, that’s his decision. That’s on him. But the AKA guys are willing to fight anybody anytime anyplace, I can guarantee you that.

Matt Hughes
“I find Koscheck calling me out kind of interesting and I actually don’t know why he is doing that. I was used to kids doing this when I was the champ, but as you know I don’t have the belt now and I’m puzzled as to why Koscheck wants to fight me and not the champion in the weight class. I have no interest in fighting Koscheck and, as he was showing everybody, he’s just a kid. As of yet, the UFC has never come to me and asked me to fight him.”

Paul Daley (He's not AKA but figured I'd add him anyways)
“[I want] someone who has a name and will be a challenge. I’ve called out Matt Hughes as he’s a big name and would be a challenge for me. People are saying I have got no wrestling, so watch me beat the best wrestler ever in the welterweight division. I don’t want to call Matt Hughes names or nothing like that. I don’t need to make fun of him — he did a great job of that himself when he was the coach on the Ultimate Fighter — but it is a fight I’d like. Beating Hughes would make a little noise and I am all about making a bit of noise.”

Matt Hughes
“I don’t have any problems with Koscheck or Swick. They’re just guys who want to beat someone who has been in the sport for awhile, to beat someone who has held the belt. There are plenty of older guys out there with big names who can fight, too. I like to take fights where I’ve got something to win. If I take a fight against Mike Swick or Josh Kosheck, I’ve really got nothing to gain from that fight besides a paycheck and beating somebody up. They’ve got more to win than I do. Those aren’t the kinds of fights that interest me. Royce Gracie was a big fight, you know? It was a huge name, a guy that had won the old tournaments in the beginning. Those are the fights I like, the ones I can really get revved up for and get motivated. Those are the kinds of fights that gets me into the gym ready to train and work.”

Josh Koschek Interview MMAmania.com
Matt Hughes has no interest in fighting Josh Koschek
Mike Swick explains why he and his AKA teamates are calling out Matt Hughes
Matt Hughes comments that he's not ducking AKA fighters
Koschek wants to retire Hughes
Paul "Semtex" Dailey calls out Hughes