He was King of the Welterweights for the better part of five years
and proved to be one of the driving forces behind the sport’s move
out of the “human cockfighting” dark ages and into mainstream
acceptance. Two-time
Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder
Matt Hughes
will celebrate his 50th birthday on Oct. 13.
Hughes was a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Eastern
Illinois University before transitioning to MMA. The Hillsboro,
Illinois, native made his MMA debut on Jan. 1, 1998 and went on to
enjoy unprecedented success at 170 pounds. Hughes anchored the
powerhouse Miletich Fighting Systems camp that included
Jens Pulver,
Spencer
Fisher,
Tim Sylvia and
Robbie
Lawler. He closed out his career with a 45-9 record, having
procured 35 of his wins by knockout, technical knockout or
submission. Victories over
B.J. Penn,
Georges St.
Pierre,
Matt Serra,
Royce
Gracie,
Ricardo
Almeida,
Sean Sherk,
Hayato
Sakurai and
Carlos Newton
(twice) highlight his resume.
The
Pat
Miletich protege was inducted into the Pioneer Wing of the UFC
Hall of Fame on May 29, 2010. Hughes suffered a traumatic brain
injury in a near-fatal train accident in 2017, and his public
appearances have been understandably sparse ever since.
Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of
October:
OCT. 1
Helio
Gracie, 1913-2009
Devin
Cole, 47
Jerrod
Sanders, 43
Christine
Stanley, 43
Ryan
LaFlare, 40
Norma
Dumont, 33
Alexander
Hernandez, 31
Fan
Rong, 30
Jakob
Nedoh, 27
Dennis
Buzukja, 26
OCT. 2
David
Heath, 47
Takayo
Hashi, 46
Alexandre
Pimentel, 45
Ed
Herman, 43
Marlen
Magee, 43
Kevin
Zalac, 41
Alex
Reyes, 37
Michael
Parkin, 28
Levan
Chokheli, 27
Anita
Karim, 27
OCT. 3
Branko
Cikatic, 1954-2020
Thiago
Alves, 40
Beslan
Isaev, 40
Leo
Kuntz, 40
Kentaro
Watanabe, 40
Dave
Herman, 39
Seok Mo
Kim, 37
Sirwan
Kakai, 34
Waldo
Cortes-Acosta, 32
Yutaro
Muramoto, 29
OCT. 4
Milton
Vieira, 45
Joshua
Burkman, 43
Liam
McGeary, 41
Alexis
Davis, 39
Ralek
Gracie, 38
Jocelyn
Jones-Lybarger, 38
Andrew
Bard, 36
Erik
Koch, 35
Michinori
Tanaka, 33
Bryce
Mitchell, 29
OCT. 5
Hiromitsu
Kanehara, 53
Lee
Brousseau, 49
Rich
Franklin, 49
Matt
Hamill, 47
Kenji
Arai, 44
Lucas
Lopes, 44
Kyle
Baker, 43
Robert
Drysdale, 42
Valeriu
Mircea, 30
Grant
Neal, 28
OCT. 6
Cyrille
Diabate, 50
Olly
Bradstreet, 40
Tyson
Nam, 40
Brett
Martinez, 37
Masio
Fullen, 38
Jennifer
Maia, 35
Sean
Soriano, 34
Nasrudin
Nasrudinov, 32
Yair
Rodriguez, 31
Michel
Pereira, 30
OCT. 7
Akihiro
Gono, 49
Billy
Evangelista, 43
Kyacey
Uscola, 42
Chris
Mickle, 40
C.J.
Hamilton, 37
Yuta
Sasaki, 34
Jordan
Wright, 32
Mike
Davis, 31
Luis
Rafael Laurentino, 31
Casey
O'Neill, 26
OCT. 8
Siala-Mou
Siliga, 53
Ryo
Chonan, 47
Roger
Hollett, 45
Francisco
Rivera, 42
Ken
Stone, 41
Will
Brooks, 37
Kevin
Medinilla, 32
Koyomi
Matsushima, 31
Ji Won
Kang, 28
Raul
Rosas Jr., 19
OCT. 9
Gene
LeBell, 1932-2022
Tadao
Yasuda, 63
Josh
Diekmann, 47
Joe
Doerksen, 46
Juan
Espino, 43
Luis
Palomino, 43
Jorge
Santiago, 43
Daniel
Puder, 42
Blagoy
Ivanov, 37
Askar
Askarov, 31
OCT. 10
Brad
Mitchell, 49
Brandon
Vera, 46
Douglas
Evans, 43
Terry
Martin, 43
Doo Won
Seo, 42
Mitch
Gagnon, 39
Carla
Esparza, 36
Marcin
Bandel, 34
Jordan
Mein, 34
Fabricio
Andrade, 26
OCT. 11
Coty
Wheeler, 45
Francis
Carmont, 42
Charles
Byrd, 40
Nick
Denis, 40
Desmond
Green, 34
Sean
Felton, 33
Sheymon
Moraes, 33
Dave
Burrow, 32
Johnny
Soto, 31
Arman
Tsarukyan, 27
OCT. 12
Fred
Ettish, 68
John McCarthy, 61
Wes
Sims, 44
Jason
High, 42
Bashir
Ahmad, 41
Ronnie
Mann, 37
Omari
Akhmedov, 36
Kairat
Akhmetov, 36
Kyoji
Horiguchi, 33
Kanna
Asakura, 26
OCT. 13
Matt
Hughes, 50
Bryan
Baker, 38
Talita
Nogueira, 38
John
Albert, 37
Saiful
Merican, 35
Borys
Mankowski, 34
Raymond
Pina, 33
Jordan
Williams, 33
Yoshiki
Nakahara, 32
Pavel
Gordeev, 30
OCT. 14
Mikhail
Zayats, 42
Dustin
Joynson, 38
Kathina
Lowe, 38
Tony
Sims, 38
Jim
Alers, 37
Musa
Khamanaev, 36
Josh
Grispi, 35
Raquel
Canuto, 33
Jiri
Prochazka, 31
Tafon
Nchukwi, 29
OCT. 15
John
Dixson, 68
Scott
Lighty, 45
Darren
Uyenoyama, 44
Art
Arciniega, 42
Jacob
Draves, 41
Vaughan
Lee, 41
Jarjis
Danho, 40
Karolina
Kowalkiewicz, 38
Khama
Worthy, 37
T.J.
Laramie, 26
OCT. 16
Kazuyuki
Fujita, 53
Mike
Hayes, 43
Rafael
Rebello, 43
Frankie
Edgar, 42
Maximo
Blanco, 40
Kleber
Koike Erbst, 34
Movlid
Khaybulaev, 33
Murad
Ramazanov, 28
Mitch
Raposo, 25
Nurullo
Aliev, 24
OCT. 17
Joey
Villasenor, 48
Rex
Richards, 43
Holly
Holm, 42
Ben
Rothwell, 42
Buddy
Roberts, 41
Luke
Rockhold, 39
Edimilson
Souza, 39
Omar
Morales, 38
Charles
Oliveira, 34
Raulian
Paiva, 28
OCT. 18
Stoney
Hale, 44
Greg
Nagy, 40
Alonzo
Menifield, 36
Jorina
Baars, 35
Ji Yeon
Kim, 34
Mark
Abelardo, 32
Quang
Le, 32
Anthony
Hernandez, 30
Abubakar
Khasiev, 26
Bogdan
Kudelya, 23
OCT. 19
Yukiko
Seki, 53
Gilbert
Smith, 42
Gokhan
Saki, 40
Terry
Etim, 38
Juliana
Velasquez, 37
Drew
Dober, 35
Sabah
Homasi, 35
Sean
Powers, 34
Wendell
Giacomo, 29
Akhmed
Khamzaev, 23
OCT. 20
John
Fraser, 46
Rafael
Dias, 44
Josh
Copeland, 41
Hayder
Hassan, 41
Paul
Redmond, 37
Daniele
Miceli, 36
Ashley
Yoder, 36
Liliya
Shakirova, 32
Aleksi
Toivonen, 32
Mario
Filipe de Sousa , 27
OCT. 21
Gil
Castillo, 58
Akihiro
Fujisawa, 44
Clint
Godfrey, 41
Shawn
Jordan, 39
Jason
Radcliffe, 38
Demoreo
Dennis, 36
Talison
Soares Costa, 35
Ed
Ruth, 33
Lowen
Tynanes, 33
Nathan
Pierce, 31
OCT. 22
Enrique
Briones, 43
Ajlin
Ahmic, 39
Kosuke
Suzuki, 39
Marcel
Fortuna, 38
Rin
Nakai, 37
Alex
White, 35
Austin
Arnett, 32
Amanda
Bobby Brundage, 32
Iuri
Lapicus, 28
Kleydson
Rodrigues, 28
OCT. 23
Michelle
Pearce, 49
Jason
Butcher, 39
Shelton
Graves, 36
Magomedrasul
Khasbulaev, 37
Jeremy
May, 37
Jake
Collier, 35
Adam
Piccolotti, 35
Andre
Soukhamthath, 35
Francisco
Figueiredo, 34
Shavkat
Rakhmonov, 29
OCT. 24
Orlando
Wiet, 58
Hiroko
Yamanaka, 45
David
Mitchell, 44
James
McSweeney, 43
Mark
Bocek, 42
Jesse
Forbes, 39
Alexander
Volkov, 35
Kelvin
Gastelum, 32
Sean
O'Malley, 29
James
Gallagher, 27
OCT. 25
Eric
Davila, 47
Travis
Marx, 46
Jeremiah
O'Neal, 46
Keith
Wisniewski, 42
Augusto
Montano, 39
Keith
Berry, 36
James Gray
Jr. 36
Danielle
Taylor, 34
Zviad
Lazishvili, 32
Carlos
Hernandez, 30
OCT. 26
Mark
Schultz, 63
Art
Santore, 51
Phil
Brooks, 45
Alejandro
Villalobos, 45
Seth
Baczynski, 42
Cindy
Dandois, 39
Rafael dos
Anjos, 39
Joey
Gambino, 35
James
Nakashima, 35
Askar
Mozharov, 29
OCT. 27
Semmy
Schilt, 50
Sherron
Leggett, 45
Misaki
Takimoto, 43
Tessa
Simpson, 37
Julio
Arce, 34
Chauncey
Foxworth, 32
Jose
Mariscal, 31
Amir
Albazi, 30
Jairo
Pacheco, 26
Nikita
Mikhailov, 25
OCT. 28
Jigoro Kano, 1860-1938
Bobby
Hoffman, 57
Alex
Chambers, 45
Mike
Ciesnolevicz, 44
Glover
Teixeira, 44
L.C.
Davis, 43
Will
Noland, 43
Jaimelene
Nievera, 39
Isao
Kobayashi, 35
Heqin
Lin, 30
OCT. 29
Will
Kerr, 41
Jason
Langellier, 40
Antonio
Braga Neto, 36
Matthew
Lozano, 35
Shinju
Nozawa-Auclair, 30
Shuo
Wang, 29
Ilya
Freymanov, 28
Nicolo
Solli, 26
Chelsea
Hackett, 24
Sora
Yamamoto, 23
OCT. 30
Ansar
Chalangov, 44
Hong
Man Choi, 43
Katsunori
Kikuno, 42
Deray
Davis, 41
Ed West,
40
Jeremiah
Wells, 37
Kevin
Belingon, 36
Bi
Nguyen, 34
Jason
Jackson, 33
Veronica
Hardy, 28
OCT. 31
Jason
Reinhardt, 54
Keith
Jardine, 48
Joe
Warren, 47
Daniel
Kelly, 46
Waylon
Lowe, 43
Yoshiro
Maeda, 42
Dan
Cramer, 38
Myles
Jury, 35
Kai
Asakura, 30
Janaisa
Morandin, 29