Last July, Matt Hughes was in a coma.
In summer 2017, the truck that Matt Hughes was driving was hit by a train near his home in Montgomery County in Illinois. The former UFC welterweight champion suffered no broken bones or internal bleeding, but a severe head injury left him unresponsive.
The Hall of Famer hasn’t been seen much in the MMA community since the accident. Three months after the incident, he returned to the hospital to honour the hospital staff who took care of him while he was there. Three months after that, he returned to the show where he made his name in the sport.
Just before the welterweight clash between Kamaru Usman and Emil Meek on the UFC St Louis main card, the house lights went down at the Scottrade Center. A feature about Hughes recovery from the accident played over the big screen and on the live broadcast. Then his walkout song, ‘Country Boys Can Survive’ boomed around the arena.
The UFC had Matt Hughes do a walkout. #UFCSTL pic.twitter.com/h720XKSLv2
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) January 15, 2018
Hughes received one of the best receptions of the night when he made his appearance. Six months after the accident, the 44-year-old made the walk to the Octagon as the crowd rose to their feet.
A big smile washed across his face as he neared the Octagon. UFC president Dana White was waiting to embrace him once he completed the walk.
He then hugged it out with his wife before going back to the president to take his seat for the event. Check out the touching moment in the video embedded below.
Hughes hung up his gloves for good in 2013 after a 15-year professional career amassing an impressive record of 45-9 (35 wins by stoppage). He then worked as the UFC’s Vice President of Athlete Development and Government Relations for the next three years.
