In UFC XXII, Matt Hughes faced Shamrock 2000 member Val Ignatov, who was coming off a loss to Evan Tanner. This time Ignatov dropped weight to enter the lightweight division and ran into a freight train named Matt Hughes. Hughes showed his incredible strength by lifting Ignatov up, walking around a little, then slamming him to the ground. From that point on, Matt pummeled Ignatov for the rest of the match. Matt reintroduced UFC fans as to how fast-paced and exciting the lightweight division can be. Matt Hughes has been gaining experience and has become a standout in the mid-west NHB circuit. He has been racking up impressive wins by dominating his opponents. I called Matt in Charleston, Illinois, on October 6, 1999.

FCF: Congratulations on your win over Val Ignatov. You're very aggressive and took the fight to Val the whole time. You have shown a ground and pound style, not trying very hard to pass Ignatov's guard. What was your game plan?
Matt Hughes: My biggest game plan was to try and stay on my feet, as much as possible. Pat and Jeremy both said that he didn't have much of a standup game, so that was my main concern. And I knew he was real good from the guard, so I really didn't not mind passing his guard. If I got out of the guard, I would be more susceptible to him maybe getting my ankles. And that was the last thing that I wanted. Though I felt just as safe in the guard as he did, as opposed to me being outside the guard.

FCF: Ignatov took a tremendous amount of punishment from you. Were you surprised that he hung in the whole time?
MH: [laughs] Yeah, actually I am. At the end of the first period, we got on our feet and I threw a jab, it landed, and he stumbled back. I thought the match would be over in the first period, I really did. And then he came out of that. Boy, I tell you, I just couldn't seem to finish it. And I saw him after the fight and he didn't have any cuts, any bruises or nothing on him. He looked like he didn't even go through a fight. He must have a jaw made out of steel, I guess.

FCF: Yeah, because he tooks some bombs from you.
MH: [laughs].

FCF: Even though Ignatov came down in weight from first competing in the middleweight division in order to enter the lightweight division, you still seemed to overpower him. What's you secret?
MH: I'll tell you, I grew up on a farm, I've got a twin brother and I lift weights everyday. I tell you, I wrestled my whole life and I think that's got something to do with it because a lot of it's positioning and not so much raw strength. But that is my strong point, my strength. I've got good genetics, I'm guessing.

FCF: I guess we have something in common, both of us have twin brothers.
MH: [laughs] Do you really? Are you guys pretty competitive?

FCF: Yeah, pretty competitive.
MH: Yeah, we are too. I guess that's the way it is.

FCF: I think the most competitive thing is who is going to beat up who. [laughs]
MH: I don't know how old you and your twin are, but now [with me] it's who can have kids first, so that if my kids are older, hopefully they'll beat up on his kids. That's the big question. [laughs]

FCF: To carry on the feud! [laughs]
MH: Yeah. [laughs] I don't know.

FCF: For the fight fans and training maniacs out there, tell them how having a twin has affected you?
MH: You've always got someone to practice with and you've always got someone you think is better. And I'll tell you, when you've got something like that your always striving to get on top.

FCF: Do you plan on getting in line for a shot at the UFC lightweight title?
MH: I won't fight Pat [Miletich, the current UFC lightweight champ]. I won't do it. And I'm content just fighting fights and getting up there in the ranks a little bit. There will be no way that I'll ever go up against Pat.

FCF: Do you plan on just fighting in the UFC and Extreme Challenge?
MH: I'd like to get over to Abu Dhabi. I think with my wrestling background and I do know enough about submissions to where I don't think that I can get caught with my strength. I think I could do well. I think that would be better because I'm not a big striker. It might of looked that way in that fight. Monte [Cox] said something about maybe December 7, me going to Hawaii [for Super Brawl]. I would like to get over there. The more country that I can see, the better I like it. I got to go to Japan. That's the way that I'm looking at it, if I can get somewhere and see some new places, that's great.

FCF: People that are not familiar with some of the mid-west NHB events don't know anything about you. Why don't you tell us about your background?
MH: About three years ago, I had a buddy start me off in this. He was very limited in submissions. And, basically, all I did was just take him down and start punching people. I got a hold of Monte Cox, actually he saw me fight in Chicago and invited me to one of his shows. And I did pretty well, that's where I got my loss, Monte's first show that I was in. Then after that, I just started doing better and then he invited me up to train with Pat [Miletich] and Jeremy [Horn]. Generally I try to go up there twice a month and train with those guys. And it's just been a stepping stone, one thing after another. And I finally got into the "show", the UFC.

FCF: So the only formal training you have is in wrestling?
MH: Yeah and then every couple months, I go to Pat's. For about the last six months, I have been going up to Pat's.

FCF: How long have you been wrestling?
MH: Since I was a freshman in high school.

FCF: You mentioned before that you train with the current UFC lightweight champ, Pat Miletich. A lot of up and coming fighters have stated that they are training with Pat Miletich. What is it like training there?
MH: He's got a lot of guys that come in there that CAN come in there. And when you get all the good guys to come in, it's a hell of a room to be in. I go up there on the weekends, so sometimes those guys aren't around. But I tell you, when he gets all those guys in there, there's always someone better than you at something. Pat, he's just a tremendous striker and he's just so knowledgeable on the ground. He's good and he loves teaching people. One think about that, everybody in Pat's gym likes telling you something, likes teaching and likes getting you going in the right way. That's the biggest plus up there. Nobody's selfish, usually everyplace else I went to, like a wrestling clinic or something like that, there's always assholes. There's always the guy who wants to be on top and doesn't want to show anything. They want to learn things and not teach other people. That's not the way at Pat's. Everybody's nice and everybody wants to trade secrets and that's kind of the way it is up there.

FCF: I find that a lot with Pat's guys. I spoke with Jeremy Horn and he is also very humble and fights just to compete and test yourselves. You guys don't just go out there to beat the crap out of people.
MH: Talking about Jeremy Horn, if I'm going to be up there, I call Jeremy and say "hey, I'm going to be here at this time," and he always wants to be in the gym. That guy knows SO much and wants to share SO much of it that it's amazing. He's probably one of my favorite guys up there to work out with. He rolls around and he thinks of something new every time he rolls around, like he's been on the mat his whole life.

FCF: How do you train for a fight?
MH: Well, I like lifting weights. I will go ahead and lift weights five times a week. Usually, three times a week, I will go for a 2-3 mile run. And I'm a wrestling coach here, so I usually get all the mat time that I want at Eastern [Illinois University]. And about two times a month, I like to go up to Pat's and train with those guys, so I get my submission work in.

FCF: Is there anyone specifically you would like to fight?
MH: No, I can't really say that there is. I would like to get Dennis Hallman. He's the guy who put the loss on my record [Extreme Challenge XXI, Oct. 17, 1998 in the finals of the lightweight tournament]. But, he flew out to Japan when I did and I got to kind of know him a little bit. I'll tell you, when I get to know someone, I really don't care to fight him after that. I'd like to get a rematch in with him, I guess. If I had to say somebody that I wanted to fight again, I guess that would be him.

FCF: What are your goals in NHB?
MH: That's kind of a bad question, I guess, if you're going to publicize this. I start an internship with the Secret Service next summer and I think I will probably be done with it [fighting] when I start that. When I first started, my goal was just to get my name out, so I could have some notoriety for this because I wanted to join the Secret Service or be a personal bodyguard. Then one thing led to another and I found out that I was decent and didn't get beat a whole lot, so I stayed with it. My girlfriend wants me to get out of it as soon as I can. [laughs] Those dolphin fans. [when I first called Matt, he was in a heated discussion about the Miami Dolphins recent loss, of whom, his girlfriend is a fan and he's not.]

FCF: Do you have any fights coming up?
MH: Monte's got a show on November 13th in Wisconsin. Hopefully, it will have Dennis Hallman, the kid that beat me, Dave Menne, Shonie Carter, Adrian Serrano. He's going to call out the best of the best for his lightweight tournament. All his previous champions will come out and fight for the title. Hopefully on December 7th, I will be out in Hawaii [for Super Brawl]. I'm not confirmed with that, but Monte said I would probably be in the show.

FCF: Anything else you would like to add?
MH: No, I'm not a big talker. I go in, get my work done and get home.

FCF: Thanks and good luck in that tournament.
MH: Thank you bud.