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[Noob]

Corey Hill Opts Out of Team Hughes Affiliation

Posted by UFC Junkie on September 6, 2007 at 6:30 am ET




“The Ultimate Fighter 5” cast member and promising lightweight Corey Hill (1-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will not become part of Matt Hughes’ upstart fight team after all, UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) has learned.






Last week, UFCjunkie.com spoke with Marc Fiore, who with Hughes (and fighter Robbie Lawler and boxing coach Matt Pena), plan to open a gym in Illinois for mixed-martial artists who wish to compete under the Team Hughes banner.






Hill was supposed to be one of the four founding fighters, but according to Fiore, he has decided to explore other options.
“Cory is the type of fighter we are trying to bring to our gym,” Fiore said. “Nonetheless, we wish him the best of luck with his training and fighting career.“






Hill couldn’t be reached for comment.






Hill’s 6-foot-4 frame and strong personality made him one of the “The Ultimate Fighter 5’s” most memorable cast members. However, the 28-year-old fighter hasn’t competed since his stint on the reality TV show, where he defeated Rob Emerson in the opening round but lost to eventual show champion Nate Diaz in the quarterfinals. A rib injury kept him from competing at The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale in June.






Team Hughes now consists of Hughes, Lawler and MMA prospect Jacob Hey. An additional 20 or so fighters are expected to join the team over the next 12-24 months, Fiore said.






For more information about the gym (dubbed the H.I.T. Squad) or the fight team, check out our previous coverage:

Interesting. Very interesting.

[Malice]

You know people are going to say "good for Hill, he could learn more elsewhere", and I don't know all the facts, but this would have been a very good thing for Hill to be a part of. Hughes is a smart guy, I think he will put together a hell of a club.

[jedibaker]

Very interesting. I wonder what the story is behind this? Is he staying with MFS?

[Afro]

Hill is from Florida, he should go train with Din Thomas and Co. at ATT

maybe this move is because Corey Hill is a wrestler and feels that he needs to train with other disciplines rather then a group of wrestlers?

[baba]

Originally Posted by Afro

Hill is from Florida, he should go train with Din Thomas and Co. at ATT

maybe this move is because Corey Hill is a wrestler and feels that he needs to train with other disciplines rather then a group of wrestlers?

I thought Hill was from Colorado?

ATT would be a good gym though.

[Noob]

Originally Posted by Afro

Hill is from Florida, he should go train with Din Thomas and Co. at ATT

maybe this move is because Corey Hill is a wrestler and feels that he needs to train with other disciplines rather then a group of wrestlers?

Having him at ATT for any serious length of time would be really interesting to watch.

[Afro]

Originally Posted by baba

I thought Hill was from Colorado?

ATT would be a good gym though.

He was training in Colorado, but the mans from Florida. Spring Hill to be exact.. thats where he wrestled at.

[Severn]

Unless I'm mistken it seems as if he hasn't fought for a while. And he's only had two fights his entire career (1-1), both on the show (as we all know on the show, his 4-0 record wasn't true). He didn't fight at UFN finale due to injury, now he opts out of Team Hughes.

I don't know what the story is at all, but does he want to fight for a living? Did he have a change of heart or is he just looking for another camp to train in? I'd like to hear more from him as this story makes me very curious.

[chungt79]

Good for Cory. In Hughes and Lawler, you got two one dimensional fighters. You can argue Hughes has developed into a well rounded fighter but he still needs to take the fight to the ground to be effective and his stand up is very much a suspect still. Besides, Hughes seem very stubborn and I dont think that will be good. Cory will be better off training somewhere else with good reputation. I am sure he has plenty of suitors.

[LookitsLance]

I think that the Hughes would be a great wrestling coach, as long as the camp gets coaches good in other aspects of MMA it could be a good camp, but Cory might have just wanted an established camp instead of waiting for HIT to build its ranks up.