What is Matt Hughes’ Net Worth?
Matt Hughes is a retired mixed martial artist who has a net worth of $4 million. Matt Hughes is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. Among his accomplishments, he was a two-time UFC Welterweight Champion and defeated all the available opposition in the welterweight division. In 2010, Hughes became the eighth inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Early Life and Education
Matt Hughes was born on October 13, 1973 in Hillsboro, Illinois. He has a twin brother named Mark, as well as a sister. As a student at Hillsboro High School, Hughes was a two-time IHSA Class A state wrestling champion in the 145 lb category, winning consecutive championships in 1991 and 1992. For his higher education, he attended Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois before transferring to Lincoln College, and then to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. At EIU, Hughes was a two-time NCAA Division I All-American in wrestling.
Start of MMA Career
Hughes made his MMA debut on New Year’s Day in 1998 at Joe Goytia’s JKD Challenge. It took him just 15 seconds to slam his opponent to the ground and win the bout via KO. Hughes went on to win his next fight via submission. In October, he fought three times at Extreme Challenge 21, winning the first two and losing the last.
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Ultimate Fighting Championship
In September of 1999, Hughes made his promotional debut at UFC 22, defeating Valeri Ignatov via unanimous decision. He returned to the promotion in 2000 at UFC 26, where he beat Marcelo Aguiar via TKO. Hughes suffered his first UFC defeat in late 2000 at UFC 29 when he lost by submission to his former opponent Dennis Hallman. He went on to have his best year yet in 2001, winning his first UFC World Welterweight title by upsetting Carlos Newton at UFC 34. Hughes successfully defended the title at UFC 36 by defeating Hayato Sakurai via TKO. He subsequently faced Carlos Newton in a rematch at UFC 38, and once again beat him. In his next title defense, Hughes defeated Gil Castillo at UFC 40. He continued to rack up wins after that, including ones against the then-undefeated Sean Sherk at UFC 42 and against Frank Trigg at UFC 45. Hughes retained his UFC World Welterweight title until UFC 46, where he lost to B.J. Penn. He went on to face Penn’s training partner Renato Verissimo at UFC 48, and won the fight via unanimous decision. At UFC 50, Hughes regained the vacant World Welterweight title by defeating Georges St-Pierre. He then successfully defended it in a rematch with Frank Trigg at UFC 52 that is regarded as one of the greatest fights in UFC history.
At UFC 60 in 2006, Hughes defeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend and UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie in a non-title bout; it became the best-selling pay-per-view in UFC history. Later in the year, Hughes had a rematch with Georges St-Pierre at UFC 65, and lost via TKO. He bounced back in 2007 by defeating Chris Lytle at UFC 68. However, at UFC 79 at the end of the year, Hughes lost in another rematch with St-Pierre. He went on to lose to Thiago Alves at UFC 85 in mid-2008. Immediately after that fight, Hughes announced that he wanted to fight his longtime rival Matt Serra. The two men faced each other at UFC 98, with Hughes winning via unanimous decision. He next defeated Renzo Gracie at UFC 112, in the process setting the record for most UFC wins, with 17. Hughes extended the record by beating Ricardo Almeida at UFC 117. However, in a rematch with B.J. Penn at UFC 123, Hughes was knocked out for the first time in his career. He suffered another knockout defeat at UFC 135 at the hands of Josh Koscheck. That fight would be Hughes’s final one in MMA before he retired in early 2013.
(Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC)
Television Series
In 2005, Hughes served as a head coach opposite Rich Franklin in the second season of the Spike TV reality television series “The Ultimate Fighter.” He returned to the series for the fifth season in 2007 to serve as a guest coach for his longtime training partner Jens Pulver. For the sixth season, Hughes returned as a head coach, this time alongside Matt Serra. He came back to the show in 2011 for “The Ultimate Fighter 13,” serving as a guest coach for his friend Brock Lesnar. Also in 2011, Hughes hosted the controversial hunting program “Trophy Hunters TV” on the Outdoor Channel. A couple years later, he hosted “Uncaged with Matt Hughes” on the Sportsman Channel. On the same channel, he hosted “The Takedown with Matt Hughes” in 2014.
Train Accident
In mid-2017, Hughes was hospitalized with a serious head injury after a train hit the passenger side of his truck at a rail crossing near his home in Montgomery County, Illinois. He was left unconscious for a period of time. In 2019, it was reported that Hughes had sued Norfolk Southern Railway and many of its employees for the crash.
Personal Life
Hughes is a born-again Christian, and often posts Bible verses on his personal website. He has two daughters named Hannah and Katelyn from his ex-wife Audra Moore. In 2019, Moore filed a restraining order against Hughes on account of several incidents of alleged domestic violence. Hughes’s brother Mark also filed a restraining order against him, claiming that Hughes had choked his son and attempted to destroy his tractor. Hughes and his wife divorced soon after the restraining order was filed.
