Matt Hughes: My Views on The Ultimate Fighter

Matt Hughes has let people know what to expect from the new season of The Ultimate Fighter. In his latest blog Hughes, who coaches on the show, talks about his strategy and his views on rival coach Matt Serra.

“A lot of people have asked me what they should expect from season six of The Ultimate Fighter, and I’ve got to say that there are some interesting characters, as far as competitors on the show. Plus, I think I bring a good coaching staff in there and everyone’s gonna see some good coaching and definitely some good fights. But like any drama, there are gonna be some ups and downs. My team goes through some ups and downs, and so does Matt Serra's. What you won’t see is Matt Serra and Matt Hughes acting like Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. That’s not gonna happen.

This is my second run as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter, and doing this a second time definitely makes things a lot easier, something I’ll explain in the coming weeks. And though the idea of being away from my family for six weeks was tough, my wife agreed to it, and she also agreed to come out for the second half with my family. So with them coming up, I thought I could go ahead and do it. If she would have said that she wasn’t gonna come out, then I wouldn’t have done the show.

Once we started filming in the gym, I wasn’t really surprised by Matt’s reaction to me on that first day. I think that’s who Matt is. He just kinda talks a lot and he’s very comfortable talking. I knew that and I wasn’t very surprised that he has that much to say. As far as fighting goes though, I don’t think he’s the top welterweight in the UFC. That’s who the champion should be, the top welterweight, and I really don’t believe he’s that guy.

We’ll get to prove who the better fighter is when we get in the Octagon, but my first order of business is picking the right team to take through the show. When evaluating fighters, I’m looking for a lot of things. I’m looking for guys I can throw in right off the bat and who want to fight for me. I’m looking for guys I can work with a little bit, mold a little bit, and at the end of the show I can throw them in and I think they’ll be prepared to win fights for me. I’m also looking for guys that I want to be around, guys that have a good work ethic, guys that are gonna be a positive in the workout room and who motivate other people to work hard.

On the other side, I’m looking to stay away from guys with bad attitudes, no work ethic, and guys the other team wants to be around, as opposed to guys they don’t like. It’s not an easy process, but when it’s over, my number one goal is to make these guys better fighters; my number two goal is to have a champion born from my team; and my number three goal is to show these guys that the team concept is going to get you guys farther than being a bunch of individuals.

My first pick this season was Dan Barrera. You don’t see a whole lot in two hours, but Dan brought a great work ethic, some standup, a lot of heart, and he just had a lot of things going for him where I wanted him on my team for fighting and for the team.

Dan was my first pick, but the second overall, as Matt chose his student from back home, Joe Scarola, as the first overall pick. That meant I got to pick the first fight of the season, and that was Mac Danzig against Scarola. I just wanted to send a message to the other team that nobody’s safe and to let them all know that they could be gone at any time. I wanted to let them know in their minds that I’m not scared to pick anybody. I went right after Matt’s number one pick, his boy, and I wanted to send a message to Matt that I’m here and I plan on winning this thing”.

Matt Hughes will Matt Serra for the UFC Welterweight title at when the series is over.