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Matt Hughes v. Thiago Alves Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd on January 18, 2008

On June 7th, two UFC stars hit the UK when legend of the welterweight division Matt Hughes takes on Thiago “Pitbull” Alves in London, England. It’s not the fight that everyone wanted to see. Chuck Liddell was slated to fight undefeated Rashad Evans but was forced to withdraw due to a hamstring injury. But I’m nearly as excited to see the most decorated welterweight on the planet step into the octagon against the young Alves. Bookmaker.com, one of the leader’s in UFC betting, currently lists the veteran Hughes as the -255 favorite to win the fight. Jimmy Boyd weighs each fighters chances and then gives his fight prediction in this Hughes-Alves predictions article.

The Favorite: Matt Hughes

Hughes is a two-time UFC World Champion and he’ll start toward his quest of gaining a third 170-pound crown when he faces off with Alves. Hughes is known as the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history. He is one of the best MMA wrestlers the sport has ever seen. Hughes comes into this fight with a devastating 43-6 record and has beaten just about every big name in the welterweight division. Hughes was able to defend his crown seven times during his two reigns at the top, defeating the likes of St-Pierre, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, and Royce Gracie. Hughes was planning a come back fight but not this soon, but when UFC President Dana White came knocking, he jumped at the chance. This won’t be the first time Hughes has fought in the UK. He successfully defended his title there back in 2002 by beating Carlos Newton by way of TKO. The big question here is if the vet will have himself in good enough shape to take on the young Brazilian.

The Underdog: Thiago “Pitbull” Alves

Alves is red hot, having won five straight heading into this fight with his Muay Thai fighting style as the catalyst. This would be a big win for one of the top welterweights in the world on two levels. Not only would he add a win over a Hall of Famer to his list of victims, but it would also likely put him in line to face current welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre in a title fight. Alves is easily one of MMA’s most exciting young stars, entering this bout with a 20-4 professional mark. Alves was a reckless striker when he first started in competition but has since developed into a much more patient and versatile contender. Alves will come in lacking no confidence having won five straight fights over Tony DeSouza, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Chris Lytle, and Karo Parisyan. On June 7th he’ll get a chance to show the world he is ready to shine.

Prediction:

Hughes being the bigger fighter is going to try to take Alves down to wear him out and to take some power out of his standup game. Alves is very confident right now and I believe that Hughes is jumping back into the octagon too quickly without adequate training time. I’ll take the youngster at +205 at Bookmaker to win this fight.

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