Hughes and Penn eager for trilogy fight
The term "legendary trilogy" is a staple in boxing. Even people with little knowledge of the sport know about three-fight classics like Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, "Sugar" Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran, Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera and Arturo Gatti vs. Mickey Ward.
Mixed martial arts doesn't yet have that kind of trilogy heritage, partly because when B.J. Penn and Matt Hughes go into the cage for the third time at UFC 123 on Saturday at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., it will be only the sixth time in company history that a rivalry has spawned a third fight.
Hughes, 37, a UFC Hall of Famer who was the sport's dominant welterweight from 2001-2006, has enjoyed a resurgence in his career. He's feasted on an array of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, a close decision over Matt Serra, finished Serra's mentor – an aging Renzo Gracie, and then choking out Gracie's other most famous protégé, Ricardo Almeida.
After the Almeida fight, Hughes indicated he was checking out of the sport for awhile and wasn't looking for any fights until well into 2011. "I was definitely going to take a break," said Hughes. "I'd spent the whole year training, fighting, away from my family. So I wanted to spend some family time. And of course fall is hunting time, so I wanted to hunt as well. But when he [UFC president Dana White] comes with the name B.J., I kind of felt like I needed to take the fight.
"B.J. and I were one and one, and we've got to see who can win this last match. So, yeah, it's a big fight for me. I can postpone everything else and worry about B.J."
Penn, who is coming off consecutive losses to current lightweight champ Frank Edgar, also didn't need much encouragement to take a rematch with Hughes.
"Dana tried to put together a fight with me and a few guys, and I guess that fell through. Then Dana offered me the fight with Matt," said Penn (15-7-1), a former welterweight and lightweight champion. "He said Matt's got some obligations, but he'll put those on the side to put together another great fight with you, and I was really excited." Saturday's fight should hinge on two major dynamics: age and size. Hughes is a little more than five years older than Penn, and for the past few years he's been considered on the downside of his career. Penn shocked a lot of people over the weekend when he said he was 165 pounds, meaning he's five pounds under the weight limit without having to cut weight. Hughes, like most welterweights at this level, will weigh in around 170, but would likely be 180-185 pounds when the cage door shuts, a significant size advantage.
Hughes and Penn first met Jan. 31, 2004, when then-welterweight champ Hughes was riding a 13-fight winning streak and was thought to be almost unbeatable. Penn's talent was no secret at the time, but he had twice failed to win the lightweight title. For the Hughes fight, Penn was challenging a dominant powerhouse one weight class up. But as it turned out, Penn dominated the fight and became UFC welterweight champion.
"Dana White called me up and said I've got a 155-pounder who wants to move up to fight you," remembered Hughes. "I was licking my chops. I really thought I would get a hold of B.J. Penn, throw him to the ground violently and punch him until the referee decided he had enough. It didn't happen that way. I got put on my back, and he threw a big overhand right that stunned me."
Penn dominated every aspect of the short fight, winning via choke in 4:39. Penn, after failing in his two prior tries at the title, was so excited that he kissed Hughes on the lips before celebrating.
"After the fight, I was in astonishment that I lost," Hughes recalled. "B.J. could have kissed me on the lips 20 times as I was still trying to figure out what happened."
The rematch came through an odd twist of circumstances. Penn had a falling out with Zuffa over signing for a fight in Japan, left the organization, was stripped of the championship, and Penn wound up in a court room battle that was more arduous than any of his fights in the cage.
On the other hand, Hughes picked himself up like the first Penn fight had never happened and won five straight, including first-round stoppages of Georges St. Pierre (where he won the vacant welterweight title for a second time), Royce Gracie, Joe Riggs and Frank Trigg.
When Penn returned, he was matched with St. Pierre to determine Hughes' next challenger, and Penn lost via a close verdict. But St. Pierre was injured, so on Sept. 23, 2006, in Anaheim, Calif., Hughes and Penn had a rematch.
It started off almost exactly like the first meeting. Penn once again dominated the first round so thoroughly that he got the label of being the best one-round fighter in the world. Hughes did perfect set-ups and shots for takedowns, but Penn's uncanny balance frustrated Hughes, who couldn't get him off his feet.
"At the end of the first round, my corner said, 'Your stand-up is fine, don't worry about taking him down,' " recalled Hughes. "I was thinking, 'Even if I lose this fight, I'm going to take B.J. down.' "
That didn't work out for the best either. In the second round, Hughes finally got his takedown. But the end of the second round was almost identical to the end of Round 1 in the first fight. This time, Hughes found himself caught in a triangle with about 15 seconds left in the round.
"I was in a bad spot and I knew it," Hughes said. "I actually prayed, 'God, get me to the next round, and I'll take over from there.' "
Hughes survived the round, and Penn, who also suffered a rib injury during the fight, was out of gas. Penn became a punching bag in Round 3, Hughes crucifixed his arms and starting firing punches to Penn's open head that he could no longer protect, and the fight was stopped.
"When people ask me,'What's your favorite fight?' I tend to say 'B.J. II,' " said Hughes. "I overcame the guy who beat me before."
Hughes (46-7) has mentally psyched himself up by saying that in his mind, losing this fight would be the equivalent of not two, but three blemishes on an otherwise impressive record.
"There's some added motivation here because the way I feel is, if I were to lose this fight with B.J., it's losing three fights," said Hughes. "But if I win this fight, it's like winning three fights."
This isn't the first time Hughes has been involved in a trilogy. He squared off three times with current champion St. Pierre in a series featuring arguably the two top fighters in the history of the welterweight division. In that one, youth ending up being served as St. Pierre finished Hughes in the final two meetings and took his spot as one of the great champions in the company's history.
The company's two most memorable trilogies to date are Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell, with Liddell winning the final two matches; and Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz, which were three one-sided matches won by Ortiz.
The others weren't as memorable. Couture had three fights with Vitor Belfort, dominating two. The lone loss was something of a fluke, when the seam of Belfort's glove sliced his eyelid early in the first round, and the fight had to be stopped for his safety.
Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia had three heavyweight title fights in 2005-06. This trilogy was largely considered a bust, but it's something of an unfair rap. Arlovski won the first meeting spectacularly in the first round. The second fight was going the same way, with Sylvia knocked down and nearly finished. Then out of nowhere, Sylvia caught Arlovski on the chin in a first-round knockout. But their third meeting came during the Ortiz vs. Shamrock II show, which at the time was the biggest pay-per-view event in company history. The two put on a five-round waltz that many more people saw than the prior two fights. Sylvia won a decision, but the fight largely ruined the memory of the two previous explosive encounters.
