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UFC 63 Preview: Penn vs. Hughes

BY JOE FERNANDEZ | Newsday Staff Writer

Two men have beaten Matt Hughes in a UFC Octagon, and one of them will try and take Hughes' welterweight belt for a second time Saturday.

Former UFC champ BJ Penn will face the 32-year-old two-time champion at UFC 63 in Anaheim's Arrowhead Pond. The match, which is available on pay-per-view, is a grappling fan's dream.

Hughes, a four-time college All-American wrestler at Lincoln Community College and Eastern Illinois University, has grounded and pounded his way to a 13-2 record in the UFC and is considered by many to be the greatest welterweight of all time.

Penn, who is replacing the injured Georges St. Pierre on the card, earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in just more than three years and remains the only non-Brazilian to win a gold medal in the black-belt division of the Mundial World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro. The Hawaiian-born 27-year-old defeated Hughes in January 2004 by way of a "mata leo" or a rear naked choke, a move that is a staple of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Even though Hughes has looked unstoppable as of late, Penn is still confident that he has Hughes figured out.

"I think he's going to want to shoot in immediately," Penn said. "He's going to come in, act like he wants to stand up then shoot like he does every single one of his fights."