A Country Boy Should Retire: Hughes should hang 'em up in a loss at UFC 117

The best time to start thinking about your retirement is before the boss does."

-- Author Unknown

Matt Hughes is a proud man and a tough competitor. He is a legend in the sport and one of the most dominant champions in the history of the UFC.

Matt Hughes is also in the twilight of his career.

His 44 wins read like a Who's Who of Mixed Martial Arts: BJ Penn, GSP, Royce Gracie, Carlos Newton, Frank Trigg, Hayato Sakurai, Akihiro Gono, Matt Serra, the list goes on and on. There is no doubt that Hughes has cemented his legacy in the MMA landscape.

Hughes is already a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, inducted this year at the fan expo during UFC 114 and, along with Chuck Liddell, is one of two active UFC fighters to be inducted.. He's two time UFC Welterweight Champion, he's defended the belt more than any other champion and, to show the length of his dominance, he's beaten every other Welterweight Champion in the history of the UFC except his mentor Pat Miletich. There's little more that Hughes has left to prove.

Photo via Sherdog.

With that in mind, if Hughes loses to Ricardo Almeida on Saturday at UFC 117, he should give great consideration to hanging up his gloves and stepping away from the cage.

It was apparent to most observes of the sport that Hughes wasn't the dominant force he used to be following his 2^nd loss to Georges St. Pierre by armbar at UFC 79.

He then went on to be thoroughly dominated by Thiago Alves, losing by TKO in the 2^nd round at UFC 85. This was seen almost as a "passing of the guard"; two fighters intersecting while going on divergent paths, Alves on the way up and Hughes on the way down.

Hughes then went on to put on a decent performance against his much-smaller Matt Serra at UFC 98 coming after a year off due to a torn MCL. He then followed that up with a TKO victory over handpicked rival Renzo Gracie. Hughes dismantled Gracie, who hadn't fought in years, with leg kicks forcing the referee to ultimately stop the fight.

Though Hughes was the victor in both of his last bouts, it was clear that the fighter's skills had declined. The powerful takedowns, the strength and speed that put him head and shoulders above the welterweight pack have all but disappeared.

The current highly-skilled uberathletes of today's welterweight division, such as GSP and Josh Koscheck to name a couple, have passed Hughes by. The question is "Does Hughes know that and, if so, will he admit it to himself?"

Hughes' pride in himself and his accomplishments are well-known. It's what drove the Hillsboro native to work hard as an amateur wrestler coming up and to achieve his successes in the UFC.  That same pride, however, may be the hindrance keeping him from realizing it might be time to step away.

Hughes has to look no further than long-time friend and training partner Jens Pulver as an example of what happens to MMA fighters who refuse to admit that the sport they love so much has passed them by.

Matt can also look at the other man who was inducted into the Hall of Fame before retiring, Chuck Liddell. Liddell has long ignored the signs that he game has passed him by and refuses to, even at the insistence of UFC President Dana White, stop fighting and putting himself in serious danger. His recent string of knockout losses has put a blemish on what is a storied MMA career.

Hughes is too proud of a man to continue fighting as a "gatekeeper" in the UFC, matching up against young prospects as a litmus test to their talents. He wants another title shot and his determination in that fact will potentially match him up against fighters that outclass him in 2010 and beyond.

Whether Hughes realizes that losing to Almeida is turning point to him either stepping away from the game with his head held high or continuing to fight, and most likely lose, against fighters with more talent I don't know. What I do know is that when "A Country Boy Can Survive" plays, I'll be on the edge of my seat.

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