UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes (photo by Joel Gold)

By FCF Staff

Matt Hughes is considering making a comeback at the age of 43, and the former welterweight champ says if the UFC isn’t interested, he’ll look elsewhere.

Hughes appeared on the latest “MMA Hour”, and during the interview, the decorated fighter said he “would love to come back”. Hughes said that his wife and UFC President Dana White, pressured him to give up fighting following his KO loss to Josh Koscheck in 2011.

While discussing why he’s interested in fighting again, Hughes relayed the following (quote via MMA Fighting):

“I think it’s just the fact that I lost,” Hughes said. “I just dislike getting, you know, Koscheck was my last loss, and BJ was my loss before that, and I fully believe that if those fights went all 15 minutes, I would have got my hand raised. I really do. But I got hit in the wrong spot and I didn’t make it out of the first round both times. I still think I’m very competitive, I think I could be, I haven’t trained real hard in the past couple years, but that’s the problem that keeps me thinking I would have a chance of going in there.”

Hughes also said that he would “hate” to fight outside the UFC, but that he would, if he has no other options. Hughes also said he’s not interested in fighting “young kids”, and that he would want to face someone with the same “speed” and “quickness”.

The Hall of Famer’s last win took place in 2010, when he choked out Ricardo Almeida.