Their trilogy marked a moment in time in which one all-time great passed the torch two another.
Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes locked horns three times between Oct. 22, 2004 and Dec. 29, 2007 and determined the direction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division. St. Pierre won two of the three encounters, all of which ended in decisive fashion. Nearly 15 years removed from their final encounter, the two men remain interminably linked by what took place between them inside the cage.
As their exploits continue to drift into the rearview mirror, a by-the-numbers look at the unforgettable St. Pierre-Hughes rivalry:
1,163: Days between the first and third St. Pierre-Hughes meetings. Hughes put away “Rush” with a first-round armbar at UFC 50 in October 2004 before losing their two subsequent encounters, succumbing to second-round blows from St. Pierre at UFC 65 in November 2006 and bowing to a second-round armbar from the Canadian at UFC 79 in December 2007.
1,150,000: Pay-per-view buys for the two events headlined by St. Pierre-Hughes. UFC 65 drew 500,000 buys, while UFC 79 earned 650,000. Their first encounter at UFC 50 played third fiddle to Tito Ortiz-Patrick Cote and Rich Franklin-Jorge Rivera.
14,666: Fans to witness the second installment of the St. Pierre-Hughes rivalry in the UFC 65 main event at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. It was the highest attendance figure of the trilogy and resulted in a $2,138,020 gate.
1,278: Seconds of fight time in the St. Pierre-Hughes series. They faced one another inside the Octagon for a total of 21:18—the equivalent of a little more than four rounds.
186: Combined total strikes landed by St. Pierre and Hughes in their trilogy. More than half of those (107) were landed in their second encounter.
7: Submission attempts between St. Pierre and Hughes in their three bouts, two of which ended with tapouts.
60: Significant strikes by which St. Pierre outlanded Hughes in their rivalry. The Canadian connected with 79 such strikes while absorbing only 19 in return.
5: Takedowns completed by St. Pierre at Hughes’ expense, and he did so with a takedown accuracy rate of 100%. Hughes, by comparison, converted only two of his 13 attempts (15%).
2: Knockdowns credited to St. Pierre in the series. The second led to a stoppage at UFC 65, where “Rush” buried Hughes with a head kick and follow-up punches to capture the undisputed welterweight crown for the first time.
.778: Cumulative winning percentage between the two men following the completion of their trilogy. St. Pierre compiled a remarkable 11-1 record and established himself as arguably the greatest fighter of all-time, with wins over Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Dan Hardy, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, Johny Hendricks and Michael Bisping. Hughes, meanwhile, went 3-3, with victories over Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida.
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