UFC hall-of-famer speaks at Algoma University

There are likely few better ways to make the announcement than the way Algoma University did on Monday night.

For nearly an hour, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) hall-of-famer Matt Hughes spoke to a crowd of fans and athletes at the George Leach Centre as the school officially announced its opportunity to host the 2016 Ontario University Athletics wrestling championships, scheduled for February.

Hughes, a former high school state wrestling champion and NCAA all-American, spoke to a crowd before also putting on a demonstration for young wrestlers.

Since retiring from a UFC career that saw him win two UFC Welterweight Championships and defending the title seven times, Hughes, 42, stars in the reality TV show Uncaged with Matt Hughes.

Hughes spoke to the crowd ahead of his demonstration on various topics as well as taking questions from fans signing autographs.

The long-time UFC fighter would tell the audience that there is one thing he would do differently in his life if he could.

“I wasn’t the best student (in college)” Hughes said. “That’s one thing I’d love to go back and change with my college history is the amount of effort I put in in the classroom.”

He also told those in attendance that he never thought he would find himself in a position where he did something that would have him recognized everywhere he goes.

“I never thought that I couldn’t go through an airport without somebody coming up to me and saying ‘Hey, are you Matt Hughes?’”

He’s been retired for three years but Hughes admitted to the crowd that he would have interest in fighting in the UFC again, specifically against one opponent.

“I would fight Matt (Serra),” Hughes told the crowd, adding that he felt three months of training would get him back into shape to fight.

Hughes and Serra have a history as the two coached against one another in the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter. The two also fought at UFC 98 with Hughes winning by unanimous decision.

UFC President Dana White has squashed the talks of a fight between the two.

Hughes is in the UFC Hall of Fame both as the greatest UFC welterweight champion, for which he was inducted in 2010 as well as in 2015 for the best welterweight championship fight for his fight against Frank Trigg at UFC 52.

In addition to his television show, which has taken him as far away as Africa and Argentina as well as Alaska and British Columbia, Hughes continues to work on the family farm with his brother Mark in Hillsboro, Illinois.