Ricardo Almeida will meet up with Matt Hughes at UFC 117 and the Renzo Gracie protege recently spoke about his fight with the former UFC Welterweight Champion:

"People say that he’s slowed down—and he’s had some hiccups here and there—but at welterweight he’s really only lost to Georges St-Pierre. His fight with Thiago Alves wasn’t really at welterweight. I’m watching video on this guy and watching his fights and I’m thinking like, what are all of these people watching. It’s MMA; when you win, you’re the greatest and when you lose, you’re done. It just so happens that he has beaten a couple of guys from my team—actually, I felt that Matt Serra won his fight, but hey, I’m biased. I was in the corner with Renzo [at UFC 112] and it was very emotional to see the way that it ended, so I asked Joe Silva for that fight right away and they gave me my wish. It’s just extra motivation, but whether I like or dislike Matt Hughes doesn’t really make a difference. If it was my mother in there, I’d be trying to choke her out and I expect nothing less from my opponent."

Props: Tapology