The Ultimate Fighting Championships makes its second foray into the Golden State in as many months with UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie May 27 from Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This card harkens back to the beginning of the UFC with legendary fighter Royce Gracie (13-2-3) taking on current welterweight champion Matt Hughes (38-4-0) in a non-title bout.


Gracie returns to the UFC for the first time since 1995, and has only fought in three sanctioned events the previous three years. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master won the first two UFC events back in the early 1990's, and is widely considered to be the father of mixed martial arts here in the United States.

Gracie returns to the Octagon in a non-title fight because of his refusal to make the 170-pound weight limit. In sort of a strange twist, the UFC Hall of Fame member actually will outweigh his opponent. During the beginning of the UFC, Gracie was routinely outweighed by his opponents by 30 pounds or more.

This main event will also be very difficult to handicap for a couple of reasons. Hughes has been tabbed as a $2.84 ‘chalk’ (bet $284 to win $100) to prevail, while the legendary Gracie enters as a $2.64 underdog (bet $100 to win $264) at various offshore sites.

Hughes is the current champion of arguably the toughest UFC division, and is known for his incredible strength and wrestling background. The Illinois product has 12 knockout victories to his credit, 18 submissions and eight decisions while losing twice by knockout and twice by submission.

In fact, the weakest part of his game is against jiu-jitsu practitioners. Hughes suffered his last loss to B.J. Penn back at UFC 46: Supernatural from a rare naked choke, and struggled against Renato Verissimo before earning a unanimous decision at UFC 48: Payback. That being said, Hughes is currently enjoying an impressive four-fight winning streak against the likes of Verissimo, Georges St. Pierre, Frank Trigg and Joe Riggs.

Gracie is a one-dimensional fighter, but he is in the Hall of Fame for a reason and its debatable whether the UFC would be around today without his efforts. However, Gracie will have to deal with numerous rule changes since he tore through the UFC over 10 years ago.

Gracie will not be able to wear a gi, a traditional kimono that is used to aid in some submissions such as chokes. Gracie also fought during the no holds barred era where head butts and hair pulling were legal, and there were no timed rounds. Those rules, or lack thereof, are no longer around since the UFC has become sanctioned by athletic commissions around the country.

Gracie has beaten Ken Shamrock twice along with Kimo Leopoldo en route to winning UFC 1: The Beginning, UFC 2: No Way Out and UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors. Back then, fighters would have to win three or four fights the same night to win a tournament.

However, the Rio de Janeiro native is a modest 1-0-2 his last three forays in mixed martial arts, with his last fight against Hideo Tokoro at K1 Premium 2005 Dynamite late last year resulting in a draw. The only way Gracie figures on beating Hughes is with a submission, or having the fight go to the judges.

UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie isn’t exactly a loaded card, but its kind of hard to have a stacked event with two current champions on medical leave with injuries and the heavyweight title changing hands just last month. The undercard does have some interesting matchups even though there are not the marquee names that casual fans would recognize.

Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera (6-0) going against Assuerio Silva (10-4) in a heavyweight contest, with Vera being labeled as a decided $3.30 favorite and Silva listed as the $3.00 underdog.

The middleweight bout between Mike ‘Quick’ Swick (8-1) and Joe ‘Diesel’ Riggs (24-7) has the closest betting line of the night, with Swick set as a slight $1.25 ‘chalk’ and Riggs a $1.15 underdog.