• UFC 123

Hughes reveals gameplan to shut down BJ Penn

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Welterweight legend Matt Hughes has grown to know BJ Penn inside out over the past decade, and he knows exactly what gameplan he intends to employ to win their rubber match at UFC 123.

Hughes has met Penn twice before, once in 2004 and again in 2006. The first meeting was a famous night for Penn, arguably his greatest in the Octagon, after he stepped up from lightweight to end Hughes' 13-fight win streak. The second brought revenge for Hughes, who stopped The Prodigy in the third.

Over four years on, both men have reached a stage in their careers where they are generally considered to be past their best. However, while Penn has lost his last two, both to Frankie Edgar, Hughes has won three on the bounce, producing a stunning front headlock choke of Ricardo Almeida in his last outing.

With ten successful title defences between them, Michigan could barely be welcoming two bigger UFC greats into the same Octagon this weekend, and Hughes revealed his gameplan will be classic Matt Hughes. He will clinch and use his body weight to tire Penn early, and then go to work on the ground in the later rounds.

"It's a huge fight, no buts about it," said Hughes. "We know each other really well, we're both competitors, we've been knocking around a lot and we'll both get right to it.

"When I get in there and the ref says 'go', I'll get straight to the gameplan. My wrestling is going to be superior to his, but clearly his striking is great and his ground game is great. He can catch you in positions and submissions that maybe I haven't seen before or haven't met somebody with the flexibility to do what he does. He's very unorthodox.

"If you get a BJ Penn that's fresh on the ground, you're in trouble. What I want is a tired BJ Penn on the ground."

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