How good was Matt Hughes as a grappler?

[omawho402]

When it comes to his skills, I don't rate him very high. His biggest strengths were his actual strength and willpower.

 

[HHJ]

A? He lost to BJ Penn despite being naturally a weight class above him and proclaiming how embarrassing it would be if he didn't beat him

It was the punch that spelled Hughes ' doom

 

[HHJ]

When it comes to his skills, I don't rate him very high. His biggest strengths were his actual strength and willpower.

Come on.

That armbar he got on GSP was slick af

 

[omawho402]

Come on.

That armbar he got on GSP was slick af

It was a good arm bar, but I think Hughes greatest assets were his strength and willpower.

 

[Russie]

At the time he would been viewed A+. He was up against many that were lost when it came to grappling. Things have come far and we have many more badass grapplers. By the class provided I feel A.

 

[mkt]

Very good, and you have to compare him to other grapplers of his era. It's not fair to compare him to someone like Shavkat 20 years later. Look how much better Hughes was than Royce, who was the best grappler 10 years earlier (1994 vs. 2004).

 

[Deltron 6060]

It's funny because if Hughes was fighting today, people would be shitting on him for not taking down a LW with BJ Penn. I think Hughes was tough but clearly a step below GSP. I'd have him at B+ tier. He was getting subbed in his prime and people could stuff his takedowns later in his career.

He's only been subbed 4 times by GSP, BJ and Hallman. All of those are legit grapplers, Hughes was top tier A level grappler.

 

[Elvis.]

Wins by submission
Barnett 19
Big Nog 21
Couture 4

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Come on.

That armbar he got on GSP was slick af

Man I climbed all the way to page 3 in this thread just to mention his level when taking GSP’s arm

His submission skills were top-notch

GSP made a rookie mistake and fished hard for a kimura while being side-mounted, Matt wasted no time in doing the correct counter to that, acknowledging his position, and finishing off his back nonetheless

The Almeida sub showed again his submission prowess

 

[HHJ]

Man I climbed all the way to page 3 in this thread just to mention his level when taking GSP’s arm

His submission skills were top-notch

GSP made a rookie mistake and fished hard for a kimura while being side-mounted, Matt wasted no time in doing the correct counter to that, acknowledging his position, and finishing off his back nonetheless

The Almeida sub showed again his submission prowess

1000%

 

[HHJ]

Very good, and you have to compare him to other grapplers of his era. It's not fair to compare him to someone like Shavkat 20 years later. Look how much better Hughes was than Royce, who was the best grappler 10 years earlier (1994 vs. 2004).

 

[Fight Professor]

If Maia, Jacare and Werdum were A+ would be to able take every wrestler down
I've seen Maia's grappling being canceled many times for wreslters

Khamzat was very cautious on the ground against Burns. Imagine if it was Maia, Jacare or Palhares.

 

[HHJ]

Khamzat was very cautious on the ground against Burns. Imagine if it was Maia, Jacare or Palhares.

Yeah

It would be interesting to see how Khamzat would have done though. He probably wouldve done fine.

Khabib would never even think of not entering the danger zone. Throwin legs aside like fedor and hammerfisting until death or submission

 

[ThePimblettEra]

Most of these A+ grapplers haven't actually beaten any other elite grapplers in MMA.

And lol we're putting essentially unproven (relatively speaking) fighters above the likes of GSP in terms of grappling ability?
Lol.

 

[Dorkman]

Very good. He had truly good submissions and transitions for a wrestler. His armbar counter to Georges mistake of trying for a kimura while keeping his guard wide open is still a thing of beauty to this day in their first fight. How quickly he identified georges error and made the counter for a fight finishing sequence was great. His take down ability really started to wane in his later career when his knees and likely back started giving out. But at his best he was a grappling monster. He routinely made Hw's look like fools on the mats at MFS. Jeremy horn trained him very well in submission grappling

 

[PaulieVegas27]

You can't be serious, dawg.

 

[HHJ]

Most of these A+ grapplers haven't actually beaten any other elite grapplers in MMA.

That doesnt matter.

You can tell when someone is good just by watching them do it.

You dont need to know who the fuck the guy is that DJ suplexed into an armbar.

You just need to know that he suplexed someone into an armbar

 

[blaseblase]

Elite but he did get subbed quickly twice by Dennis Hallman so it's hard to consider him top tier.

 

[blaseblase]

No Brock at all? Brock got you down you didn't get back up.

Cain certainly got back up and so did Couture.

The others are Mir who wasn't good at getting back up, and Carwin who was completely gassed. Very small sample size.

 

[sjon22]

It's tough gauging him with the guys of today. Imo he was the best wrestler of his generation. His submission is Ricardo Almeida who was. Legit black belt was very impressive.



Start around the 3 minute mark.