Retirement of Matt Hughes Official, Named Vice President of Athlete Development for UFC
By FCF Staff
The storied fighting career of former UFC welterweight champ Matt Hughes is officially over, but the Hall of Fame fighter will continue to work for the UFC as the Vice President of Athlete Development and Government Relations. The appointment was announced at a UFC on FOX 6 press conference today in Chicago.
One of the new responsibilities of Hughes will be to mentor fighters as they build their careers, and help ensure they avoid incidents that could tarnish their profile and the UFC. The promotion’s chief counsel, Lawrence Epstein, noted at today’s presser that the majority of sport’s organizations have similar positions.
The 39 year-old Hughes hasn’t fought since September, 2011, when he was knocked out by Josh Koscheck. The defeat followed a KO loss to BJ Penn in November, 2010, after Hughes had scored consecutive wins over Renzo Gracie, Matt Serra and Ricardo Almedia.
Hughes stopped short of retiring, following his loss to Koscheck, but in more recent months the welterweight hinted that his fighting days may be over.
Hughes entrenched his legendary status by scoring wins over BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Frank Trigg (twice), Sean Sherk, Carlos Newton and Hayato Sakurai among others.
The Illinois fighter won the UFC welterweight title twice during his near 15 year long career.