Hughes vs Alves At UFC 85

by Robert Sargent

After injuries to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell forced major changes to the card, UFC 85 will now be headlined by a welterweight battle between former champion Matt Hughes and rising star Thiago "Pitbull" Alves.

For Hughes, this serves as a chance to climb back up the welterweight rankings, while Alves is just one big win away from a long-awaited title shot.

The June 7th bout in London, England became necessary after Liddell was forced to withdraw from the former main event against "Sugar" Rashad Evans earlier this week. Evans, himself, was also a replacement, as he had taken the place of Rua, who ruptured the ACL in his surgically-repaired knee during training.

Evans is still scheduled to be a part of the event, likely taking on "The Sandman" James Irvin, but that fight will serve as a co-main event. Hughes will battle Alves in the final fight of the evening.

Hughes has stated that, win or lose against Alves, his next fight after that will be against Matt "The Terror" Serra, who was soundly defeated by Georges "Rush" St. Pierre last weekend at UFC 83.

Alves (14-3) has won five straight fights, including a TKO victory over Karo "The Heat" Parisyan at UFC Fight Night 13. Hughes (42-6) has lost two of his last three fights, both to St. Pierre.

Both are looking to make a run up the welterweight ladder - for Hughes, possibly his last - and a win at UFC 85 would do the trick. Especially in the case of Alves, a victory over Hughes, the former UFC Welterweight Champion and most dominant UFC welterweight to date, would skyrocket his career in the UFC.


It may not be Liddell vs Rua, but Hughes vs Alves definitely isn't a bad fight at all.