Matt Hughes has signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC, officially ending rumors and speculation that the former UFC welterweight champ had fought his last fight at UFC 98 in May."Last week I went out to Vegas and I signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC, which is much like my last contract," Hughes wrote Thursday on his blog. "I also brought up the fact that I wanted to do a hunting show and they thought that would be a good thing."
Hughes (43-7) was victorious in his last fight against Matt Serra, but had entered UFC 98 with three losses out of his previous four fights.
Hughes added that no opponent or date is official and to ignore all matchup rumors going around, but mentioned that one name the UFC has presented to him is someone he has never fought before.
That doesn't exactly narrow down the field of possible opponents, as the current crop of top UFC welterweights (that Hughes has not fought against) are Jon Fitch, Paulo Thiago, Josh Koscheck, Martin Kampmann, Karo Parisyan, Carlos Condit and Mike Swick. However, that does shoot down rematches with recent UFC signees and rivals Dennis Hallman and Frank Trigg. Also, Kampmann and Swick are fighting each other at UFC 103 for a shot at Georges St-Pierre's title, so the winner of that fight can also be crossed out as a potential opponent.
Coming into Hughes' grudge match against Serra at UFC 98 -- then the final fight under Hughes' contract, Stephan Bonnar fueled retirement rumors by saying that he "heard it from Matt Hughes' mouth that this will be his last fight -- I think win or lose," but Hughes was quick to state after his win his intentions to continue his career inside the Octagon.
"I definitely still want to compete," Hughes said. "I still think I'm competitive in the weight division, so we'll keep going."
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