UFC 135: Matt Hughes Says He'd Take 165lbs Catchweight Fight

I'm back from the open workouts held today at the MusclePharm gym in Denver, Colorado. There wasn't a ton of new information to be gleaned from the occasion, but we talked one last time to the UFC 135 principals.

Matt Hughes seemed energetic, interested in the opportunity and thrilled to still be competing. None of that changes his career positioning, but it possibly help explains why a fighter who can't reach any new athletic heights would continue to compete. Hughes also explains in this video the family pressure he's receiving to retire is reaching a tipping point.

Hughes has stated he'd be interested in continuing to fight for perhaps a couple of more times. He says, however, he would not sign a four-fight deal. When I asked him if he'd be interested in a catchweight, he said yes, but with a twist. "Yeah, I would," said Hughes. "Now, it's funny. I lift weights like crazy. I really do. I've been lifting for a long time. I've known about this fight for three months and I'm still only five pounds over weight right now. I'm 175 [pounds], so I'm actually four pounds over weight. My body's not wanting to gain weight like it used to. Used to I could lift weights for a month and I was getting close to 190 [pounds]. So, I would really entertain the option of going down to 165 [pounds] more than 185 [pounds] or 80 at a catchweight."

You'll recall Hughes already has one fight in the UFC at a catchweight: his win over Royce Gracie at UFC 60.

There's much more to the media scrum, so I encourage you to watch the entire discussion.