Eyebrows were raised en masse last week when UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes suggested he might return to fighting. Word had it that fellow MMA legend Royce Gracie would be the potential opponent that Hughes would come back to fight. In Gracie’s view, that’s a splendid idea.
Speaking with MMA Fighting, Gracie was more than happy to play a part in Hughes exiting his (now axed) boardroom life to compete once more.
“Man, that would be great,” said Gracie. “That would be great. Everybody wants to see this second fight.”
There is a revenge factor in play for Gracie in this scenario. Hughes finished Gracie with strikes in the 1st round of their UFC 60 tilt eleven years back, marking the end of Gracie’s time in the Octagon. Despite Hughes noting that he’d like to match up with someone he could beat, Gracie didn’t take that sort of comeback framing personally.
“He’s confident,” offered Gracie. “That’s good. That’s good when the guy has confidence. It’s not bad. I want to fight someone who thinks like that. It’s good when you have confidence. That shows he’s a champion, not a loser.”
Bellator appears to be the de facto landing spot for this potential fight. As the UFC continues its culture change, this sort of legends fight (something the organization is notorious for) could be another tool for Bellator to gain a foothold as they attempt to beef up their brand. Whether or not fight fans are as excited about this potential matchup as Royce Gracie is, well that’s a bit of a wait and see.
(Via MMA Fighting)
