THE CANADIAN PRESS

LONDON -- At 34, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes insists there is still some fight left in him.

But the fighting farmer from Hillsboro, Ill, admits he doesn't have to get in the cage any more.

"Definitely. I could walk away from this sport now and probably never work a day in my life," Hughes said in the leadup to UFC 85. "My wife's done very good with the investments and just making sure I don't spend all our money. So I'm fighting just because I want to. I'm not here for any other reason. It is for fun and I love to do it. I love to train, I love to be here, I love to compete."

Hughes (43-6) has two fights left on his current contract. The first is Saturday against 24-year-old Brazilian Thiago (Pitbull) Alves. The second will likely be against 170-pound rival Matt Serra. After that Hughes will take stock, with one eye on his 21-month-old daughter Hanna.

The timing of UFC 85 has been unfortunate for Hughes, since it comes on the heels of the May 31 EliteXC card in Newark, N.J. where Hughes cornered friend Robbie Lawler. That makes for a long stint away from home.

"When I put my daughter down for a nap before I left for Robbie's fight on Wednesday (May 29), I kind of started to cry," Hughes said. "You know kids are an amazing thing and they change your life and she's definitely changed me."

Alves (20-4) represents Hughes' 50th mixed martial arts fight and it helped save the day for the UFC after former light-heavyweight champion Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell was forced to withdraw from the main event against Rashad Evans because of a torn hamstring.

The UFC turned to Hughes to headline the card and, after consulting wife Audra, he said yes.

Hughes has lost two of his last three fights, thanks to Canadian Georges St. Pierre. Prior to that, however, Hughes had won 19 of his previous 20 outings dating back to March 2001 with only B.J. Penn besting him during that period -- a loss Hughes later avenged.

"I've lost some big fights, two to GSP, one to B.J., but I don't think that was anything to do with really my training or anything," Hughes said. "I think it was just the level of opponent I was facing."

Despite his success against almost all others, Hughes acknowledges there was a time as champion when a string of title defences became more humdrum than fun. But he says having his own gym nearby (The H.I.T. Squad in Granite City, Ill.) -- instead of commuting during the week to Bettendorf, Iowa -- and his own group of guys has changed all of that.

"Like this fight, it's been a blast. Training for it and (being) here. I'm very confident in the fight, I do think I'll get my hand raised at the end but it's been fun at the same time."

Alves is a Brazilian young gun with fast hands who will walk into the Millennium Dome arena on the back of four straight knockouts. His most recent victory was a second-round TKO over Karo Parisyan, marking the first time Parisyan has been stopped in his 23-fight career.

Alves weighed in Friday at 174, four pounds over the welterweight limit. Hughes was 170. The fight will go ahead at a catchweight with 10 per cent of Alves' purse going to Hughes.

With Hughes promising to revert to his wrestling roots, it looks to be a classic grappler versus striker matchup.

"I think he's got the advantage on his feet. He's so quick," Hughes said. "I don't know how much power he's got in his hands, but he's very quick. His kicks are quick too.

"I'm definitely going to have to take him down the first round, wear him out at least and then maybe I can stand up with him the second and third round or maybe I'll just take him down, I don't know."

"I think experience is going to play a big factor in this fight," he added. "I think heart is going to play another big factor. ... He's a slow starter. If I can break him mentally in that first round, I think the next rounds will be easy -- which is what I used to do in the past, break them the first round and they wouldn't want to fight after that.

"I think him being young is going to play a big factor in this fight."

Alves is old enough to know Hughes' game plan, however.

"He'll try to take me down and I punish him every time he tries," said the stocky Brazilian, who trains in Florida with American Top Team. "Every time the fight stays standing up, I'm going to be in his face, I'm going to punish him all the time."

.Welterweight Marcus (The Irish Hand Grenade) Davis, who lost to Alves in 2003, says early takedown defence will be the key Saturday. If Alves can avoid being taken to the ground, especially in the first round, he will take it. If Hughes' strategy succeeds, the former champion will win either by decision or submission.

But Davis cautions against taking Alves lightly because of his age, pointing to his showing against Parisyan.

"Karo wasn't able to take Alves down," said Davis, who takes on Mike (Quick) Swick on Saturday. "Alves looked good because Alves had ring savvy. He was patient and he waited, he didn't over commit or do anything. He waited for that one good shot and he got it. ... He's already got that seasoning to him. The kid's a tough fighter."

English middleweight Michael Bisping, who faces Jason (Dooms) Day of Lethbridge, Alta., on Saturday, points to Hughes' age rather than Alves'.

"He is a (future) UFC Hall of Famer, he was a very, very dominant champion," Bisping said. "Trying to be as respectful as I possibly can, I think probably perhaps his best days are maybe behind him... . I suppose it would be nice if he could go out and end his career on a high note. But Thiago Alves, he's a very strong fighter.

"It'll be a great fight, I really do think it will be. He's going to have to be careful though, because Thiago Alves is going to be younger and hungrier and maybe looking for a bit of what Matt Hughes has had in the past. So yes, he might have his hands full."

Day and Bisping both weighed in at 184, one pound below the middleweight limit.

When Hughes does quit, he will return to farming. Like some other elite fighters, he has had movie offers but he has turned them all down.

"I've had some people contact me but I'm not an actor," he said. "I've never been good trying to be somebody I'm not. So I think I know who I am, I think I know what got me where I'm at and I'm just trying to stay on that road."

The Hughes code is simple: "God first, family second and fighting third." While other fighters enter the arena to mindnumbing heavy metal, Hughes often walks to the ring to the sounds of Hank Williams Jr.'s "Country Boy Will Survive."

Fighting will always be part of his life, thanks to his gym. So will farming.

"One thing my wife does somewhat let me spend money on is buying farm ground and my brother's a farmer, And I cash-rent to him. That gives me the freedom if I want to go out and work on the farm, I can. If I want to spend the day with my family, I can do that.

"I was born a farmer and I'll die a farmer. If I'm lucky I'll die right on the farm.

Twin brother Mark is usually a fixture at Hughes' fights but stayed home this time because his wife is expecting. Hughes reckons it's the first time in 10 fights -- since his loss to Penn -- that his brother has not been at ringside.

Whatever happens Saturday, Hughes will be heading straight back to his family, including stepson Joey and daughter Hanna.

While Joey is at school during the year, Hughes works his three workouts daily around Hanna's sleeping schedule starting from the moment he gets up at 6:15.

At least these days, when he leaves home, he can give her his newly released action figure, courtesy of manufacturer Round 5 of Markham, Ont.

"I always make sure my daughter's got my action figure in my hand when I leave, just so she remembers who I am," Hughes said with a smile. "She's at that age where she doesn't remember a whole lot yet but she knows when she looks at the action figure, I say `Who is that?', she goes `Dadd-eeeee.' I like it."