UFC 109: Matt Hughes Rumored to Face Renzo Gracie in February

A welterweight showdown between former UFC champion Matt Hughes (43-7) and PRIDE veteran Renzo Gracie (13-6-1) is rumored take place at UFC 109 in Las Vegas February 6, according to a report by Jeremy Botter at Heavy.com.

Not yet officially announced, UFC 109 is expected to take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The fight card will air on pay-per-view as the UFC’s annual Super Bowl weekend card.

Hughes, a future UFC Hall-of-Famer, recently climbed from beneath consecutive losses to Fighters.com and UFC Welterweight Champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2) and second-ranked “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (16-4).  The Illinois native and Miletich Fighting Systems alumnus put his record back on track with a unanimous-decision win over “Terror” Matt Serra (9-5) at UFC 98 in Las Vegas May 23.

Hughes also owns a win over legendary former UFC champion Royce Gracie (14-3-3) at UFC 60 in Los Angeles in May 2006.  Renzo Gracie, also a member of the famed Gracie clan, is the son of Robson Gracie and the grandson of Carlos Gracie.

Renzo Gracie has not entered a cage since February 2007 when he defeated former Strikeforce champion Frank Shamrock (23-9-2), though by disqualification. Prior to his meeting with Shamrock, Gracie scored a pair of victories over Matt Huges’ former coach, Pat Miletich (28-7-2) as well as “Ronin” Carlos Newton (13-13) in bouts for the now defunct International Fight League. Gracie was also a coach of the IFL’s New York Pitbulls.