When Joe Riggs-Matt Hughes fight was announced...

Ogata

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I hold this event close to my heart because UFC 56 was the first even that made me want to follow this sport and yet I have few questions for you guys. So the fight was suppose to be Matt Hughes vs Karo Parisyan and Karo hurt his hamstring and pulled out.

So then Joe took the fight and there was some controversy with the weight issue, it seemed that he made weight but officials fucked up and by the time they fixed the scale, Riggs rehydrated and so because of the mistake, Dana didn't give him shit for not making weight.

Now here are my questions:

When it was announced Riggs was fighting Hughes, what was the general reaction on this forum?

Did you guys think Riggs had a chance or was a dangerous opponent to Hughes?

What did you think of Riggs vs Hughes fight?

Had Riggs trained fully for the fight, could he have beaten Hughes?
 
Joe wasn't on the same level at the time. Never really was.
 
UFC 56?

I was 12 years old trying to beat God of War on the hardest difficulty. Haaa.

That was so important to me back then for some reason.
 
Riggs could never beat hughes, not in a million years
 
It was a reasonable replacement with the notice given, weird dynamic in that they had trained together recently... and once it became a non title fight with a no win situation for the champ and an everything to lose for the UFC the match it self was even 'weirder' shall we say
 
UFC 56?

I was 12 years old trying to beat God of War on the hardest difficulty. Haaa.

That was so important to me back then for some reason.
So that would make you the same age as me
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Riggs never had anything to offer Matt, imo. I'd be hesitant to take SHW Riggs as a favorite over WW Hughes, to be honest.

I remember being really disappointed Karo pulled out, that would've been a hell of a fight.
 
Let me check my diary from many years ago to answer the first question. Will come back to the next 3 questions after that. While your waiting, perhaps you could answer:

What made you wait all these years to start this thread?

How did you live with not getting Sherdogger's answers all these years? Could make for a good self-help book.

Did you fall into in a coma right after this event and then only wake up recently? If so, I highly recommend buying a non-flip cellphone and deleting your myspace account.
 
Riggs said in the promo

"Hughes is sweating bullets right now!"

LOL
 
I didn't think he had a chance in hell. But of course we had people on here insisting he would win.
 
Did Riggs have a reasonable chance or was a dangerous opponent for Hughes?

Riggs was only a dangerous opponent because he was a late replacement. Hughes was an a-pex champion and would have been favored over Riggs or Parisyan at the time.
 
First PPV I bought as a barely old enough to drink legally youngster. Was a great card overall... Made GSP fans out of all of us at the time.

Don't think Riggs ever had anything to offer Hughes.
 
I had only been watching MMA consistently for a year when that fight happened... even I knew Joe had no shot.

Didn't Hughes pull off a kimura from half guard? I always remember the finish to that fight being slightly strange for some reason.
 
I hold this event close to my heart because UFC 56 was the first even that made me want to follow this sport and yet I have few questions for you guys. So the fight was suppose to be Matt Hughes vs Karo Parisyan and Karo hurt his hamstring and pulled out.

So then Joe took the fight and there was some controversy with the weight issue, it seemed that he made weight but officials fucked up and by the time they fixed the scale, Riggs rehydrated and so because of the mistake, Dana didn't give him shit for not making weight.

Now here are my questions:

When it was announced Riggs was fighting Hughes, what was the general reaction on this forum?

Did you guys think Riggs had a chance or was a dangerous opponent to Hughes?

What did you think of Riggs vs Hughes fight?

Had Riggs trained fully for the fight, could he have beaten Hughes?

From what i remember, riggs was only given a chance by a few hopefuls on here.

Riggs and hughes were connected in the fact that many of the milititch fighters also did work with riggs coach billy rush(rip).
It wasnt much of a secret that riggs was a world beater in the gym. He would regularly outclass rich franklin and the other fighters.
Riggs was also known for having bad anxiety issues, and tended to fold under pressure during bigger fights.

When Joe Rogan refers to fighters that are world beaters in the gym but can't handle the pressure of the crowds and spotlight, he is referring to Riggs.

Most on here leaned towards hughes back then regardless of the gym stories.

I was pissed that the karo and hughes fight never happed when they both were in their primes. That would have been very interesting.
 
Quarry was fighting Franklin on the same card...

They brought in Sinosic to lose to Forrest Griffin in the previous event (which was headlined by Arlovski vs. Buentello) Mis-matches were normal back then, the top talent was mostly in Pride.

I thought they should've given Diaz the shot, but UFC kind of hated him back then. They were always telling him off for being too thuggish... but tbf he did lose to Riggs.
 
Joe was good and it would've been interesting if he'd come in fully prepared.


I'm more interested in how prime Karo vs Hughes would've gone though.
 
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