What Happened to UFC Champ Matt Hughes? An Injury Put the MMA Fighter Down, But Not Out

When you're an MMA fighter, in the UFC or elsewhere, your job is to keep your body in tip-top condition and fight your way to the top. It's an unforgiving discipline that takes an exacting toll on participants, with only the most devoted and talented rising to the status of champion.

Matt Hughes was one such fighter.

At the top of his career, with adoring fans and a real shot at becoming a UFC legend, Matt suddenly disappeared from the octagon. What happened to him? Here's what we know about the injury that put him out of commission and how he's battled his way back from a coma.

In 2017, Matt was at the top of his game. Bringing home the "W" in multiple matches, he was the fighter to beat. And then suddenly he was gone.

The MMA fighter sustained catastrophic injuries after his pickup truck was struck by a train in Illinois, and he recounted the experience in an interview with Planet Hank.

He explained, "I was helping a farmer and I was taking diesel to a tractor and filling the tractor in the back of his truck. I had diesel and DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid), which is a diesel mixture. I was in the country going across a railroad track. At the time, the corn was up, so I couldn't see the railroad track well. And there was no cross sign or lights, it's just a yellow sign. So, it was a bad angle ... you can't see the track at all. Terrible angle ... I was just going to fill his tractor and got hit."

Matt explained that he was rushed to the hospital and, due to his extensive injuries, was put into a medically induced coma. While he eventually recovered, he lost some physical abilities and walked away with diminished motor skills as well as speech difficulties due to a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

In the intervening time, he has trained and worked hard to regain much of the physical abilities he lost. Although he would never fight again like he once did, he has been able to return to the gym as a mentor, guide, and charity fighter on occasion.

You might think that a devastating injury that takes you out of your favorite sport would be the end, but not for Matt.

Even though it's been nearly a decade since he was at the top of his career, his social media is still flooded with admirers and fans who believe that he had the potential to be one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.

In one post on Instagram where Matt is signing trading cards from his time in the octagon, one fan wrote, "You sir were the reason I become a fan of MMA! Your fights against George St Pierre are legendary! I will always be your fan!"

Another added, "I have a few of your auto cards. Some of my most prized possessions."

In other posts, people praised him for being an inspiration, and others thank him for his charity work with survivors of TBI.

In addition to serving as an inspiration for overcoming a massive injury and TBI, Matt is an inspiration for overcoming suicidal ideation.

In his interview with Planet Hank, Matt mused, "I'll admit that I have thought about suicide but if I committed suicide, I have so many people watching me that might think it's cool to do the same thing. So I can't do that."

Once a fighter, always a fighter.