• UFC 135

White expects Hughes retirement

ESPN staff
September 25, 2011
Matt Hughes says he is not planning to retire © Getty Images
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Dana White believes Matt Hughes has fought his last fight in the UFC despite the veteran's insistence that he has no intention of retiring after his defeat at UFC 135.

Exactly five years after defending his welterweight belt for the last time against BJ Penn, Hughes suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Josh Koscheck in Denver.

Despite widespread reports that Hughes would announce his retirement after the fight, the veteran opted to leave his options open. "I'm not retiring," he said. "I'm going to tell the UFC to put me on a shelf and we'll see what happens after that."

However, White believes Hughes is unlikely to fight again, and believes the UFC Hall of Famer is just avoiding the inevitable commotion that will come with an official confirmation of his retirement.

"I think he's going to retire," White said. "I just don't think that Hughes wants to say the word 'retire.' There was a lot of talk that this was the last fight of his contract, and I don't know whether that's true or not.

"He's a guy I've never worried about, last fights or whatever. I was just talking to him out in the hallway and he's going to fly out to Vegas in a month or so and sit down and talk. I'm pretty sure he's going to hang it up ... without saying 'retiring.'"

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