Where's Hughes' Hall of Fame nod?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has five members in its Hall of Fame. Each of them – Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture and Royce Gracie – still are active fighters.

And that's why it's puzzling that Matt Hughes, who has contributed as much to the UFC and to mixed martial arts as any of those five, isn't already enshrined.

It appears that Hughes will have to wait until retirement to be inducted, which is as it should have been in the first place.

He was badly beaten and looked like a shell of himself in a drubbing he suffered at the hands of Thiago Alves at UFC 85 in London on June 7. The technical knockout defeat marked his second consecutive loss and third in his last four fights.

But Hughes isn't done.

He'll fight arch-rival Matt Serra on May 23 in the co-main event of UFC 98 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, and even has raised the possibility of competing at middleweight.

Earlier this month Hughes answered in Columbus, Ohio, the night before UFC 96, taunting Serra while predicting victory and sounding like a man very much intent on continuing his career.

He says he'll evaluate his career once his contract expires after the Serra fight, though he insisted he'd never fight for another promoter. For Hughes, it's either UFC or bust.

That means he will be facing elite fighters like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Martin Kampmann, Dustin Hazelett and Carlos Condit if he chooses to remain in the game – and stay at welterweight.

Regardless of his future, Hughes (42-7) already has a career filled with sensational victories. He beat Hall-of-Famer Gracie at UFC 60 in May 2006 on one of the most memorable nights in UFC history, and he also has victories over future Hall of Famers Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn – plus wins over stars such as Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg and Carlos Newton.

Hughes, though, clearly embraces his shot at Serra, who coached against him on Season 6 of the UFC's reality series on Spike TV, "The Ultimate Fighter." Serra didn't like Hughes coming into the series, and his distaste for Hughes only increased during the taping.

Serra repeatedly referred to Hughes by a vulgar nickname for a part of the male anatomy and reveled in his fighters' victories over Hughes' fighters.

Hughes said he had no feelings toward Serra one way or another prior to the show, but said his dislike for the one-time champion he derisively referred to as a "one-hit wonder" increased with every insult Serra uttered during the taping.

"One of the more common questions I get is, 'Is that real what we see on the reality show?' " Hughes said. "Actually, it is. For some (reason), he did not like me on that show. Because of what he said about me is why I didn't like him. He's the one who started out with the anger. It wasn't me. I'm easy-going, man."

An easy-going guy who already has accomplished plenty.

Hughes is 9-3 in UFC welterweight title fights and competed in at least one championship bout every year from 2001 through 2007. It's a remarkable record of longevity in a sport where the lifespan at the top is about as long as that of your average NFL coach's tenure.

His last two performances, against St. Pierre at UFC 79 and against Alves at UFC 85, were stunning because of how thoroughly he was handled in each of those bouts.

That prompted calls for his retirement, which Hughes began to discuss after the loss to St. Pierre.

But the opportunity to get his hands on a guy he clearly dislikes has motivated Hughes enough to shelve the talk of retirement. He said he can't envision a scenario in which he doesn't win the fight.

"If you take me out of it and let me look from the outside in, I really think I'm going to pick where the fight's going to be at," Hughes said. " … I can use my wrestling offensively to take my opponent down or I can use my wrestling defensively to keep my opponent standing."

In other words, Hughes expects to control the fight.

"I'll definitely push the pace on him. I think he'll get tired on me," he said. "When I want to go to the ground, I'll take him down, and when I want to stay on my feet, I'll defend any shots he might have at me. I think it will go my way, to be honest. I've learned from his one-hit wonder on GSP that he is a big slugger.

"My wife tells me it will go all three rounds and he'll be a bloody mess when I get done with him."

This fight could spell the end of Hughes' run at welterweight, but not the end of his remarkable career.

Hughes conceded he had entertained a move to middleweight in the past and said he would have fought the late Evan Tanner for the middleweight belt had Tanner defeated Rich Franklin at UFC 42.

But Hughes says now he'd only go up for a significant fight, specifically mentioning a bout against middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

At this stage of their careers, it seems like a mismatch, but Hughes insists he's serious.

"I'm toying with the idea of moving to 185 to fight Silva," Hughes said. "But I have to square away things in my weight class before I do that."

Hughes already belongs in the UFC Hall of Fame, but if he manages to get through that fight in one piece, they should induct him on the spot, as the odds would be huge against him winning.

"This sport is all about testing yourself and what you're capable of," Hughes said.

Hughes doesn't need to throw one more punch or attempt one more takedown to prove what he's capable of doing. He's already done that.