Matt Hughes is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time. This is not an opinion, but a fact. The man was Georges St-Pierre before there was a Georges St-Pierre. He won the UFC welterweight bout twice, and defended it seven times during his illustrious career.

Hughes is a hard nosed wrestler with serious submission abilities. The thought of some Iowa farm boy submitting high level fighters was crazy to comprehend, especially considering that Hughes has no Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu belt to speak of. But that never bothered him.

"You know what, when I was coming up with Pat (Miletich), we didn't have a belt system whatsoever so I was never interested in what belt I am, could care," Hughes told MMA Fight Corner presented by FiveKnuckles.com. "If I'm effective in the cage then it's good enough for me. So, you know what, there's probably (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) black belts out there that would submit  me and there's probably black belts out there that I would submit. That's the way I look at it. But we never had a belt system so we never worried about it."

Georges St-Pierre, a BJJ black belt, is someone Hughes has grappled back and forth with throughout his career. In their first meeting, a prime Hughes submitted the young Canadian with an armbar to win his welterweight title. In their third and deciding meeting, Hughes was submitted by that very same move.

With the history that Hughes and St-Pierre have, it wouldn't be out of the question to assume that there were some sort of animosity between the two, but listening to Hughes talk changes that opinion. The veteran obviously sees the talent held by St-Pierre and he doesn't see him losing anytime soon.

"I think that's gonna be a pretty easy fight," Hughes said when asked about St-Pierre's upcoming fight against Jake Shields. "I really do. I think GSP's going to be able to do whatever he wants. Jake's not going to be able to get on top, so I just don't see him being effective really anywhere. I definitely don't think he's going to be able to take him down, and if Shields is on his back I just don't see him being effective. I have to really wonder why he got a title shot in the first place... but, I'll tell you why he got a title shot is there's no one else."

While Hughes may not believe that Shields worthy of a shot at St-Pierre, he is intrigued by a potential showdown with middleweight champion Anderson Silva. While he admits that it would dangerously close, he still believes the Canadian would walk away with his arm raised.

"I gotta think GSP has got a pretty good chance of winning that fight," Hughes said. "I think his takedowns are going to be effective enough to may get [Silva] down on back and I think his GNP (ground-and-pound) is going to be effective enough to hurt him. And his submission defense is going to be effective enough to not get caught with stuff. So, if I had to put money on it, and this is one of those fights that I would not bet, but If I had to put money on it, I would put it on GSP, I really would.

With St-Pierre the current king of 170 and the history between the two fighters, it would make sense for Hughes to want to face off against him someday. But with the trilogy completed (St-Pierre took it 2-1) that ship has...