
Acting
Matthew Allen Hughes was born on October 13, 1973, in Hillsboro, Illinois. Hughes has two siblings, a sister and his twin brother, Mark. During high school they both played football and wrestling. Hughes went to Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois, before transferring to Lincoln College, in Lincoln, Illinois and then on to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. He is a retired mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling. Widely considered among the greatest fighters in the history of MMA, he is a two-time UFC Welterweight Champion, UFC Hall of Fame inductee, and NJCAA Hall of Fame inductee. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks, defeated all the available opposition in the welterweight division, and defended the belt a then-record seven times. Hughes was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in May 2010 during the UFC Fan Expo in conjunction with UFC 114.

UFC 85: Bedlam was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on June 7, 2008, at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The main event was ultimately changed to Matt Hughes against Thiago Alves. Hughes took the fight on short notice as a favor to the UFC and Alves came in four pounds overweight.

UFC 79: Nemesis was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), that took place on December 29, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event featured the highly anticipated rubber match between former UFC Welterweight Champions Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. The Co-main event featured a fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva.

UFC 68: The Uprising was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 3, 2007 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. In the main event, UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia was set to defend his title against Randy Couture, who was coming out of a 12-month retirement. Couture, a former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion, hadn't fought as a heavyweight since UFC 39 in 2002.

UFC 65: Bad Intentions was a mixed martial arts competition held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 18, 2006 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The card featured the anticipated rematch between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship.

UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 23, 2006. The event, originally subtitled "Hughes vs. St. Pierre," was scheduled to feature a UFC Welterweight Title match between champion Matt Hughes and Georges St.-Pierre. Nevertheless, a groin injury—which was reported early in August—forced St.-Pierre off the card.

UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 27, 2006. Headlining the card was a non-title catch-weight (175 lb) match between Matt Hughes, former UFC Welterweight Champion, and Royce Gracie, the champion of UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4. This was Gracie's first match in the UFC and in the United States since UFC 5.

UFC 56: Full Force was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 2005. Headlining the card were the two coaches from The Ultimate Fighter 2, Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes, scheduled to defend their middleweight and welterweight titles, respectively.

UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, United States.

UFC 112: Invincible was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 10, 2010, on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The main event was for the Middleweight Championship, as Anderson Silva fought Demian Maia.

UFC 22: Only One Can be Champion was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 24, 1999 at the Lake Charles Civic Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
