Renzo Gracie and Matt Hughes fought at UFC 122 in Abu Dhabi on April 10, 2010. Now the pair are going to meet again for a grappling superfight in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship in Manaus, Brazil, in Sept.
The news was broken by Jiu-Jitsu magazine, via Facebook:
Renzo Gracie vs Matt Hughes Superfight set for ADCC 2015
“It’s a done deal,” Gracie told Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting. “Matt asked to compete again at the ADCC and they offered me this wonderful fight. I wasn’t expecting for this, but I immediately accepted it.”
“Let’s do this again. Every time I have a chance to compete, I’m in. I can’t say now. He fought there before, he’s really tough. It’s going to be a great fight.”
Renzo is a two-time gold medalist at the event, and Superfight veteran. Hughes competed in the event in 2000, beating Ricardo Almeida and Jeremy Horn, and losing to Jeff Monson and Tito Ortiz.
Hughes will be training for the event at Ricardo Liborio’s ATT headquarters in Coconut Creek, FL. Renzo will presumably prepare at his academy in Manhattan.
In a welcome change from MMA, each expressed the highest respect for the other, via Twitter.
Matt Hughes @matthughes9x
My brother @RenzoGracieBJJ I won’t let the cat out of the bag, but let’s go have a good time with this!!!
Renzo_Gracie_BJJ @RenzoGracieBJJ
My brother @matthughes9x always a honor to sweat with U in the arena. Thank U
Hughes vs. Gracie is just one of the three superfights at the event, which will also feature Andre Galvao vs. Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu and Mario Sperry vs.Ricardo Liborio.
