UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, Matt Hughes Confirms Renzo Gracie Fight

UFC 112 will occur April 10 in Abu Dhabi and feature a previously reported matchup between Fighters.com seventh-ranked welterweight Matt Hughes (43-7) and PRIDE veteran Renzo Gracie (13-6-1), Hughes confirmed at his website Thursday.

“I see that Dana has let the cat out of the bag,” Hughes said, referencing UFC President Dana White’s hint Thursday in Memphis about the matchup. “So I can tell you what I know, on April 10th I will be fighting Renzo Gracie in Abu Dhabi. I haven’t signed any paperwork and I don’t think Renzo has either; but I think this fight is going to happen.”

The 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.

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.