Matt Hughes was born in Hillsboro, Illinois. Hughes has two siblings, a sister and his twin brother Mark. He and Mark spent a lot of time on the family farm in their childhood. During their high school days, they both played football and wrestled. Matt went to college at Southwestern Illinois College, a two-year college located in Belleville, Illinois before transferring to Lincoln College, in Lincoln, Illinois and then on to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. His freshman and sophomore years, he made the NJCAA All-American Team, and his final two years he was listed on the NCAA Division I All-American Teams.

Matt and his wife Audra have one daughter together, and they each have a son from a previous relationship. He recently published his autobiography, Made in America: The Most Dominant Champion in UFC History.

Wrestling

Matt Hughes has competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, in which he held a record of 2-2. This consists of wins over Ricardo Almeida and Jiu-Jitsu legend Jeremy Horn, and losses to fellow UFC fighters Jeff Monson and Tito Ortiz. Hughes was also a two-time 130 lb. state wrestling champion for IHSA (Illinois High School Association) Class A in 1991 and 1992. Furthermore, Matt is a two-time Division I All-American wrestler, with an 8th and a 5th place finish in the 157 lb. division.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Hughes won his first UFC World Welterweight title at UFC 34: High Voltage on November 2, 2001. Hughes was caught in a triangle choke by Carlos Newton, but Hughes lifted Newton in the air and 'powerbomb'-style slammed him to the mat, causing Newton to hit his head and lose consciousness just as Hughes was on the verge of blacking out himself from the choke. After the match Carlos stated that he felt the reason Hughes fell to the mat was because he was rendered unconscious from the triangle choke. This was confirmed by Hughes himself upon reviewing the tape of the match Hughes can be heard telling his corner after the fight "I was out." In their subsequent rematch, Hughes won by technical knockout when he successfully trapped Newton in a modified crucifix position, which allowed him to rain unanswered blows on Newton's defenseless face.

He successfully defended his championship belt several times thereafter, defeating Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Newton (in a rematch), Gil Castillo, Sean Sherk, and Frank Trigg. He kept the title until UFC 46, when he was submitted by Hawaiian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist B.J. Penn via rear naked choke. The title was vacated upon a contract dispute between Penn and the UFC. Hughes regained the vacant welterweight title by submitting Canadian contender Georges St. Pierre via armbar in the final second of the first round at UFC 50.

After regaining his title, Hughes successfully retained it in a rematch with Frank Trigg. After being accidentally hit in the groin early in the first round, Hughes looked to the referee for assistance; however, the referee had not seen the strike and Trigg capitalized on Hughes' distraction by staggering Hughes with a barrage of punches. The fight quickly went to the ground, with Trigg ground-and-pounding Hughes, then attempting a rear naked choke. After nearly two minutes of struggling, Hughes broke free of Trigg's choke attempt, then picked Trigg up, carried him across the Octagon, and slammed him to the ground. Hughes then ground-and-pounded Trigg before securing the victory with a rear naked choke of his own. Hughes' next fight took place at UFC 56, where he was scheduled to fight Judo practitioner Karo Parisyan. After Parysian suffered a hamstring injury and could not fight, Joe Riggs took his place. The match was originally scheduled as a title bout, but since Riggs could not meet the 170-pound weight limit, it became a non-title fight. Hughes defeated Riggs in the first round by kimura. In UFC 60, on May 27, 2006, Hughes defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Royce Gracie in a non-title, catch-weight bout by TKO (strikes from back mount). Before the stoppage, Gracie was caught in an armlock from the side mount position; although Hughes appeared to have the submission in place, Gracie would not tap out and the fight continued. After the fight he told Grappling Magazine that he "let go of the armbar because he did not want to break Gracie's arm".

In September 2006, Hughes defended his title in a rematch against B.J. Penn, stopping him in the third round. Although Penn dominated the first 2 rounds, he struggled in the third with Hughes taking advantage. British MMA/wrestling magazine "Fighting Spirit" reported that Penn had sustained a rib injury late in round 2, leaving him gasping for air. This may explain his lack of performance in the latter round, though some attribute this to a lack of cardiovascular endurance training. Afterwards, Georges St. Pierre (who was supposed to face Hughes at this event but pulled out due to injury) stepped into the ring and congratulated Hughes on his win, but also stated "I was not impressed by your performance."

On November 18, 2006 at UFC 65: Bad Intentions, St. Pierre defeated Hughes by TKO via strikes at 1:25 of round two, ending Hughes' title reign. In the first round, Hughes sustained two unintentional kicks near the groin; after Hughes went down from the second kick, St. Pierre was given a warning by referee "Big" John McCarthy. Hughes however stated in his post fight interview that the second kick mainly affected his legs, rather than his groin. Nearing the end of the first round, St. Pierre landed a 'superman' punch, which floored Hughes. St. Pierre then followed up with strikes on his stunned opponent. When it appeared that the fight would be stopped, the bell rang signaling the end of the first round. It was in the second round that St. Pierre ended the fight with a head kick which stunned Hughes and knocked him to the mat, following up with a flurry of punches and elbows that forced McCarthy to call a stop to the contest at 1:25 of round 2.

On March 3 2007, Hughes returned to the Octagon for UFC 68: Uprising and defeated Chris Lytle by unanimous decision winning every round.^[7]

Following a championship win by Matt Serra over Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69, it was announced by UFC President Dana White that Hughes will again be fighting for the World Welterweight title in November 2007 against Serra. This fight was later changed to December 29, 2007 in Las Vegas, at UFC 79: Nemesis. On November 24, however, Matt Serra sustained a herniated disc in his lower back and had to inform the UFC that he would not be able to compete for an indeterminate time. As a replacement for the Serra/Hughes title match, the UFC quickly signed a rubber match between Hughes and St. Pierre which would also be for the UFC Interim Welterweight Championship. Despite his best efforts, Hughes was unable to mount any serious offense on St. Pierre, who easily avoided all of Hughes' takedown attempts while also taking Hughes down at will and using Hughes' own ground-and-pound style against him. Near the end of the second round, St. Pierre attempted a kimura on Matt's right arm that he escaped, but in a reversal of their first fight, St. Pierre was able to twist it into a straight armbar with fifteen seconds remaining in the round. Hughes fought the extension, but with his left hand trapped between the mat and St. Pierre's legs, was forced to verbally submit at 4:54 of the second round. In the post-fight interview, Hughes praised St. Pierre as the better fighter and stated his intention to take some time off and spend with his family.

Hughes also expressed interest in going up a weight class to middleweight to fight champion Anderson Silva if former champion, Rich Franklin was unable to beat Silva in their rematch at UFC 77, a match that Silva did win. Hughes stated that if this fight occurs, it would happen in 2008 following his scheduled title shot against Serra, although the fight with Serra has now been postponed indefinitely. However, it is likely that Matt Hughes will fight Matt Serra regardless of the outcome of UFC 83. Rumors are, that the fight will happen in UFC 89 or 90. He also recently revealed his intention to retire from MMA within the next few years on the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra.

In late mid 2007, Hughes left the Miletich camp with Miletich stablemate Robbie Lawler, longtime boxing coach Matt Pena, and wrestling/conditioning teacher Marc Fiore to form The H.I.T.(Hughes Intensive Training) Squad in Granite City, Illinois.

Matt Hughes fought Thiago Alves in a highly anticipated welterweight fight at UFC 85: BEDLAM on June 7, 2008. Matt lost the fight to Thiago Alves due to referee stoppage (TKO strikes) at 1:02 in round 2. After receiving a powerful flying knee from Alves he dropped to the ground with his own left knee pinned behind his hips. He indicated during post-fight interviews that the landing did injure his knee.

It was confirmed at a Q&A with Matt Hughes on September 16, 2008, that his next and likely final opponent will be former UFC Welterweight Champion, Matt Serra.