It's been a rough 18 months for the UFC's building blocks. Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture are now retired after suffering bad knockouts in their final fights. Now Matt Hughes may have to join them after falling badly against Josh Koscheck as the victim of a first-round knockout at UFC 135 in Denver.
Just Liddell like did in his final fight against Rich Franklin, Hughes was more than holding his own against the younger Koscheck. But when older fighters get popped with a good shot, they can't take it like they used to.
[Related: Complete UFC 135 recap]
Hughes landed some good shots and targeted Koscheck's right eye with some good jabs, but everything turned when he absorbed some nasty right hands in the final minute of the round. Hughes hit the floor in the final seconds. Koscheck jumped on top and poured it on. He landed two big hammer fists with five seconds left and Hughes went limp.
Hughes wouldn't commit to retiring, but appeared both emotional and really frustrated during his postfight conversation with UFC analyst Joe Rogan.
"I'm not retiring," Hughes said. "I'm going to tell the UFC to put me up on shelf and we'll see what happens after that."
This makes it two straight first-round KO or TKO losses for Hughes, the UFC Hall of Famer and two-time former champ. He lost to B.J. Penn in just 21 seconds at UFC 123.
[Related: Jones defends light heavyweight title in convincing fashion]
Koscheck (16-5, 14-5 UFC) is one of the bigger villains in the sport, so Hughes got a huge ovation from the fans at the Pepsi Center. If this was his last fight, he got a great sendoff in his record 26th appearance in the Octagon.
"I loved the crowd support when I came out," said Hughes.
Koscheck talked a lot of trash before the fight claiming that Hughes had been ducking him for years, but he was nothing but respectful after the victory.
"Thanks to Matt Hughes for taking this fight late in his career. He's a legend. I'm really happy that I had the opportunity to fight a legend like Matt Hughes," said Koscheck.
[Related: After yet another thorough win, can anybody stop Jon Jones?]
Hughes was the UFC welterweight champ on two separate occasions from 2001-06, piling up a 12-1 record during that period.
This was a must win for Koscheck, since he had everything to lose. Koscheck dropped a title shot against Georges St-Pierre, the current UFC 170-pound champion back in April. He had the orbital bone around his right eye broken. Koscheck went on the shelf for three months and had to limit all physical activity. He was targeting Nov. 19 for his return when he got the call less than three weeks ago to fill in for Diego Sanchez against Hughes on this card.
"It was actually nice being on shelf. I got to focus on other areas. I'm growing as a person and as a fighter," said Koscheck.
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