dy-no-mite3000
08-30-2007, 01:44 PM
Off the junkie.
Matt Hughes to Start Fight Team; Robbie Lawler and Corey Hill on Board
Posted by UFC Junkie on August 29, 2007 at 11:08 pm ET
Matt HughesFormer UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes is starting his own fight team and will soon open a 13,5000-square-foot gym in Granite City, Ill. However, despite a flood of rumors, Hughes? supposed departure from his longtime home with Pat Miletich Fighting Systems was on completely amicable terms.
That?s the word from Marc Fiore, a longtime cornerman for Hughes who will now be part of the staff running the gym. Fiore spoke to UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) this evening.
The gym, which is named H.I.T. Sqaud (Hughes Intensive Training), will be a launching pad for new fighters, as well as veteran mixed-martial artists looking for a new training center. Additionally, Fiore said the elite fighters will be asked to join the gym?s official fight team: Team Hughes.
In addition to the school?s namesake, Team Hughes initially will include three other fighters: former UFC contender and current Icon middleweight champion Robbie Lawler, Greco-Roman wrestling champion and MMA newcomer Jacob Hey, and ?The Ultimate Fighter 5? standout Corey Hill.
In time, though, Fiore said the school could have upward of 20 fighters competing for all the top MMA organizations.
The training center, which will likely open to the public in January, will be run by Hughes, Fiore, Lawler and longtime Hughes? boxing coach Matt Pena. The center is located just five minutes from St. Louis on a former army base, and enough of the facility will be renovated so that Hughes can begin training there in October. That will give him at least two months in the former-warehouse-turned-gym to prepare for his Dec. 29 fight with current UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra.
St. Louis attorney Jeff Cooper, a sports entrepreneur whose invested in professional soccer and horse racing, is funding the operation. He initially approached Hughes about sponsoring fighters. However, Fiore said that he, Hughes, Lawler and Pena had such a good time serving as coaches on ?The Ultimate Fighter 6? that they decided to open their own school, and Cooper was on board for the idea.
?Our goal is not only to have the best team in the country, but worldwide,? Fiore said. ?Jeff Cooper can help us do that. He was just named one of the most influential sports businessmen in Missouri.?
While their desire to run a world-class facility was the motivating factor to start the venture, Hughes also wanted to be closer to his home in Hillsboro, Ill. However, rumors of a strained relationship with Miletich being a contributing factor just aren?t true, Fiore said. (In fact, Hughes was never actually an official team member of MFS.)
?The rumors that Matt and Pat had a falling out are completely false ? very false,? Fiore said. ?Ideally ? and I?m not trying to speak for them ? but Pat?s guys will come to our gym to train sometimes, and then we?ll go back to Iowa at Pat?s gym for a while.
?But we?re not an MFS affiliate school. We?re a Team Hughes gym. But it could be a brother program where guys go back and forth between the two gyms.?
In fact, Fiore said Miletich?s success helped spark the idea to start their own team.
?The four of us wouldn?t be where we?re at without Pat,? Fiore said. ?He provided the foundation for our success. He?s a successful fighter, he?s a successful coach, and he?s a successful trainer. He taught us well, so it?s time for us to grow.
?(Hughes) loves coaching. But he was gone and away from his family almost every week. He?ll be grounded closer to home, and when he retires ? he says it?ll be in a couple years ? he can go right into training and coaching full-time and running his team.?
For more information about the training center (or to inquire about becoming part of Team Hughes), contact Fiore at
(217) 313-0718 or marcfiore@hotmail.com.
Matt Hughes to Start Fight Team; Robbie Lawler and Corey Hill on Board
Posted by UFC Junkie on August 29, 2007 at 11:08 pm ET
Matt HughesFormer UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes is starting his own fight team and will soon open a 13,5000-square-foot gym in Granite City, Ill. However, despite a flood of rumors, Hughes? supposed departure from his longtime home with Pat Miletich Fighting Systems was on completely amicable terms.
That?s the word from Marc Fiore, a longtime cornerman for Hughes who will now be part of the staff running the gym. Fiore spoke to UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) this evening.
The gym, which is named H.I.T. Sqaud (Hughes Intensive Training), will be a launching pad for new fighters, as well as veteran mixed-martial artists looking for a new training center. Additionally, Fiore said the elite fighters will be asked to join the gym?s official fight team: Team Hughes.
In addition to the school?s namesake, Team Hughes initially will include three other fighters: former UFC contender and current Icon middleweight champion Robbie Lawler, Greco-Roman wrestling champion and MMA newcomer Jacob Hey, and ?The Ultimate Fighter 5? standout Corey Hill.
In time, though, Fiore said the school could have upward of 20 fighters competing for all the top MMA organizations.
The training center, which will likely open to the public in January, will be run by Hughes, Fiore, Lawler and longtime Hughes? boxing coach Matt Pena. The center is located just five minutes from St. Louis on a former army base, and enough of the facility will be renovated so that Hughes can begin training there in October. That will give him at least two months in the former-warehouse-turned-gym to prepare for his Dec. 29 fight with current UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra.
St. Louis attorney Jeff Cooper, a sports entrepreneur whose invested in professional soccer and horse racing, is funding the operation. He initially approached Hughes about sponsoring fighters. However, Fiore said that he, Hughes, Lawler and Pena had such a good time serving as coaches on ?The Ultimate Fighter 6? that they decided to open their own school, and Cooper was on board for the idea.
?Our goal is not only to have the best team in the country, but worldwide,? Fiore said. ?Jeff Cooper can help us do that. He was just named one of the most influential sports businessmen in Missouri.?
While their desire to run a world-class facility was the motivating factor to start the venture, Hughes also wanted to be closer to his home in Hillsboro, Ill. However, rumors of a strained relationship with Miletich being a contributing factor just aren?t true, Fiore said. (In fact, Hughes was never actually an official team member of MFS.)
?The rumors that Matt and Pat had a falling out are completely false ? very false,? Fiore said. ?Ideally ? and I?m not trying to speak for them ? but Pat?s guys will come to our gym to train sometimes, and then we?ll go back to Iowa at Pat?s gym for a while.
?But we?re not an MFS affiliate school. We?re a Team Hughes gym. But it could be a brother program where guys go back and forth between the two gyms.?
In fact, Fiore said Miletich?s success helped spark the idea to start their own team.
?The four of us wouldn?t be where we?re at without Pat,? Fiore said. ?He provided the foundation for our success. He?s a successful fighter, he?s a successful coach, and he?s a successful trainer. He taught us well, so it?s time for us to grow.
?(Hughes) loves coaching. But he was gone and away from his family almost every week. He?ll be grounded closer to home, and when he retires ? he says it?ll be in a couple years ? he can go right into training and coaching full-time and running his team.?
For more information about the training center (or to inquire about becoming part of Team Hughes), contact Fiore at
(217) 313-0718 or marcfiore@hotmail.com.