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"I asked for [Matt Hughes] immediately after the Renzo [Gracie] fight [at UFC 112]. It's been in the works, and for my part, I signed the bout agreement and I'm looking forward to it. It's definitely a good angle. It's a good way of promoting the fight. For me, I'm just a competitive guy. Actually, Matt Hughes beat me like ten years ago in a grappling match. Am I going to be motivated because he beat Renzo? Absolutely. I was there in the corner, you know, I want that win. For me and for the team. But other than that, it's just competition."-Ricardo Almeida
-UFC welterweight Ricardo Almeida, a recent guest on Versus' "The Daily Line," confirmed that he has signed a bout agreement to face nine-time UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes at UFC 117 on Aug. 7 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
The bout was first rumored last month.
The fight between Hughes and Almeida, who is widely considered one of the top Renzo Gracie black belts, won't be hard to hype and build up following Hughes' third-round TKO win over Almeida's longtime mentor Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 on April 10.
Hughes also holds UFC wins over a pair of fighters who have strong ties to Almeida, as he previously defeated Matt Serra at UFC 98 last May, and Renzo's cousin, Royce Gracie at UFC 60 in May 2006.
The bout between Hughes and Almeida is actually a rematch of sorts, as they previously competed against each other in an ADCC grappling match in 2000, where Hughes defeated Almeida.
Almeida is 10-1 in his last 11 bouts, which includes a current three-fight winning streak. His most recent win came in his welterweight debut in his last bout, where he defeated Matt Brown at UFC 111 in March. He now sports a solid 5-3 UFC record, scoring other Octagon wins over Eugene Jackson, Rob Yundt, Matt Horwich and Kendall Grove.
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