With one more fight left on his contract, Matt Hughes heads into Saturday’s fight against Josh Koscheck uncertain of his future in MMA. Nearing his 38th birthday, the former welterweight king is nearing the end of his shelf life as a fighter, and it’s clear that he probably won’t be making a title run against the new generation of fighters.
Matt Hughes has 54 pro fights, 2 title runs as the UFC welterweight champ, 7 title defences, and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2010. He is only person to have beaten both BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre, and has the most wins out of anyone who has fought in the UFC (18). In addition to beating Penn and GSP, he’s beaten Akihiro Gono, Carlos Newton, Hayato Sakurai, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, a couple of Gracies, and many more. He’s got nothing left to prove, and hopefully the country boy will go out on a high note.
The preacher man says it’s the end of time
And the Mississippi River she’s a goin’ dry
The interest is up and the Stock Markets down
And you only get mugged
If you go down town
I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain’t too many things these ole boys can’t do
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Because you can’t starve us out
And you cant makes us run
Cuz we’re them old boys raised on shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We came from the West Virginia coalmines
And the Rocky Mountains and the and the western skies
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly
My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I’d send him some homemade wine
But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45
Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Cause you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run
Cuz we’re them old boys raised on shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We’re from North California and south Alabam
And little towns all around this land
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
If he had been less of a douche for a good part of his career, I’d be toasting him. Even in his autobiography, he makes himself look like a douche.
He does blur the line between confidence and arrogance, but you can’t deny his achievements.