American mixed martial arts fighter
Sam Kristen Hughes [ 5] (born June 28, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently competing in the women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Background
Hughes grew up with three older brothers in South Carolina, where she also ran track in high school.[ 6] At Wofford College for her undergraduate studies in accounting and finance, she ran track and field and cross country at NCAA Division I level.[ 4] She continued competing in track when she made the move to the University of South Carolina to pursue her masters in Sports Management. But after graduation, Hughes took a job in the finance world, which took her to Seattle .[ 6] A friend invited her to Catalyst Fight House, in Everett, Washington and Hughes embarked on her amateur career in 2016 after a few months training at Catalyst. Hughes turned pro in 2019, due to her last amateur opponent, Melanie McIntyre, who after losing to Hughes, wanted a rematch as a pro. However, McIntyre pulled out of the fight and Hughes wound up making her debut a month later.[ 2]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Making her MMA debut at COGA 62 Supreme Showdown 4, she defeated Kayla Frajman via rear-naked choke in the first round. Hughes would collect two more stoppage victories, one by second round TKO and the other by first round armbar submission.[ 7]
In her debut fight for Legacy Fighting Alliance at LFA 81 , she took on Lisa Mauldin and defeated her via unanimous decision.[ 8]
Hughes faced Vanessa Demopoulos for the inaugural LFA Women's Strawweight Championship on July 17, 2020 at LFA 85 . She lost the bout after being choked unconscious in the 4th round via inverted triangle choke.[ 9] [ 10]
Hughes faced Danielle Hindley on October 16, 202 at LFA 93 . She won the bout, chocking Hindley unconscious via guillotine choke at the end of the first round.[ 11]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Replacing Angela Hill who tested positive for COVID-19 , Hughes signed with the UFC and faced Tecia Torres .[ 12] [ 13] She lost the fight via doctor stoppage between round one and two after saying she couldn't see out of one of her eyes.[ 14]
Hughes, as a replacement for Hannah Cifers , was expected to face Emily Whitmire on February 27, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane .[ 15] Whitmire was removed from the bout on February 14 due to undisclosed reasons,[ 16] and the bout was cancelled.[ 17]
Hughes faced Loma Lookboonmee on May 1, 2021 at UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Procházka .[ 18] [ 19] She lost the bout via unanimous decision.[ 20]
Hughes was scheduled to face Lupita Godinez on October 9, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez .[ 21] However, Hughes was pulled from the bout for testing positive of Covid-19 and she was replaced by newcomer Silvana Gomez Juarez.[ 22]
Hughes, as a replacement for Jessica Penne , faced Luana Pinheiro on November 20, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate .[ 23] She lost the bout via unanimous decision.[ 24]
Hughes faced Istela Nunes at UFC on ESPN 34 on April 16, 2022.[ 25] She won the fight via majority decision.[ 26] The bout marked the last of her prevailing contract.[ 27]
Hughes faced Elise Reed at UFC Fight Night 206 on May 21, 2022.[ 28] She won the fight via technical knockout in round three.[ 29]
Hughes faced Piera Rodríguez on October 15, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 212 .[ 30] She lost the bout via unanimous decision.[ 31]
Hughes faced Jacqueline Amorim on April 8, 2023, at UFC 287 .[ 32] She won the fight by unanimous decision.[ 33]
Hughes faced Yazmin Jauregui on February 24, 2024 at UFC Fight Night 237 .[ 34] She lost the bout by unanimous decision.[ 35]
Hughes faced Victoria Dudakova on August 3, 2024 at UFC on ABC 7 .[ 36] She won the fight by split decision.[ 37]
Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
15 matches
9 wins
6 losses
By knockout
2
1
By submission
3
1
By decision
4
4
Res.
Record
Opponent
Method
Event
Date
Round
Time
Location
Notes
Win
9–6
Victoria Dudakova
Decision (split)
UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov
August 3, 2024
3
5:00
Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates
Loss
8–6
Yazmin Jauregui
Decision (unanimous)
UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2
February 24, 2024
3
5:00
Mexico City , Mexico
Win
8–5
Jaqueline Amorim
Decision (unanimous)
UFC 287
April 8, 2023
3
5:00
Miami, Florida , United States
Loss
7–5
Piera Rodríguez
Decision (unanimous)
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo
October 15, 2022
3
5:00
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Win
7–4
Elise Reed
TKO (elbow and punches)
UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Vieira
May 21, 2022
3
3:52
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Win
6–4
Istela Nunes
Decision (majority)
UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. Muhammad 2
April 16, 2022
3
5:00
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Nunes was deducted one point in round 3 due to an eye poke.
Loss
5–4
Luana Pinheiro
Decision (unanimous)
UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate
November 20, 2021
3
5:00
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Loss
5–3
Loma Lookboonmee
Decision (unanimous)
UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Procházka
May 1, 2021
3
5:00
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Loss
5–2
Tecia Torres
TKO (doctor stoppage)
UFC 256
December 12, 2020
1
5:00
Las Vegas, Nevada , United States
Win
5–1
Danielle Hindley
Technical Submission (guillotine choke)
LFA 93
October 16, 2020
1
5:00
Park City, Kansas , United States
Catchweight (120 lb) bout.
Loss
4–1
Vanessa Demopoulos
Technical Submission (inverted triangle choke)
LFA 85
July 17, 2020
4
2:21
Sioux Falls, South Dakota , United States
Strawweight debut. For the inaugural LFA Women's Strawweight Championship .
Win
4–0
Lisa Mauldin
Decision (unanimous)
LFA 81
January 31, 2020
3
5:00
Costa Mesa, California , United States
Win
3–0
Bethany Christensen
Submission (armbar)
Battle at the Bay 15
October 19, 2019
1
0:52
Anacortes, Washington , United States
Win
2–0
Loren Benjar
TKO (knee to the body and punches)
XKO 46: Summer Bash
July 13, 2019
2
1:30
Dallas, Texas , United States
Flyweight debut.
Win
1–0
Kyla Frajman
Submission (rear-naked choke)
Combat Games 62
February 23, 2019
1
1:35
Tulalip, Washington , United States
Bantamweight debut.
[ 38]
See also
References
^ "Stats | UFC" . ufcstats.com .
^ a b Anderson, Jay (2021-01-17). "UFC Strawweight Sam Hughes: From the Track to the Cage" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ a b Nick Khoury (April 14, 2022). CORNER TALK | Sam Hughes Is More Than Ready To Fight For Her UFC Career After Joining Fortis MMA – via YouTube.
^ a b "Sam Hughes" . Ultimate Fighting Championship . Retrieved July 17, 2021 .
^ "Sam Hughes" . FamousFix.com . Retrieved 2024-10-09 .
^ a b "LFA 85's Sam Hughes: On the 'Sampage' " . Combat Press . Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ "Across the Pond Profile: Legacy Fighting Alliance fighter Sam Hughes | MMA UK" . 2020-05-21. Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ "LFA 81 Results: Emmers Submits Barbosa" . Combat Press . Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ Sherdog.com. "Crystal Vanessa Demopoulos Inverted Triangle Chokes Sam Hughes Unconscious at LFA 85" . Sherdog . Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ Staff (2020-07-18). "LFA 85 Results: Vanessa Demopoulos Claims Title in Style" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ Dawson, Alan. "A female MMA fighter scored a buzzer-beating guillotine choke which sent her opponent to sleep in the final second of the 1st round" . Insider . Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ Mike Bohn (2020-12-06). "Angela Hill announces positive COVID-19 test, out of Tecia Torres rematch at UFC 256" . mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-12-07 .
^ Alexander K. Lee and Damon Martin (2020-12-08). "Tecia Torres will now face LFA standout Sam Hughes at UFC 256" . mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08 .
^ Jay Anderson (2020-12-12). "UFC 256 Results: Tecia Torres Lights Up Newcomer Sam Hughes" . cagesidepress . Retrieved 2020-12-12 .
^ Mike Heck and Steven Marrocco (2021-02-03). "With Hannah Cifers out, Emily Whitmire now expected to face Sam Hughes at UFC Vegas 20" . mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2021-02-03 .
^ Danny Segura (2021-02-14). "Sam Hughes vs. Emily Whitmire off UFC Fight Night 186" . mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14 .
^ "Sam Hughes vs. Emily Whitmire off UFC Fight Night 186" . MMA Junkie . 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-02-15 .
^ Marcel Dorff (2021-02-17). "Loma Lookboonmee vs. Sam Hughes toegevoegd aan UFC evenement op 1 mei" . MMA DNA (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-02-18 .
^ Loma Lookboonmee to turn up aggression against Sam Hughes . South China Morning Post . April 6, 2021 – via YouTube.
^ Evanoff, Josh (2021-05-01). "UFC Vegas 25 Results: Loma Lookboonmee Outlasts Sam Hughes" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2021-05-02 .
^ Heck, Mike (2021-06-26). "Lupita Godinez vs. Sam Hughes set for UFC event on Oct. 9" . MMA Fighting . Retrieved 2021-10-05 .
^ ATSteveDuncan (2021-10-06). "Hughes fuera, Silvana Gomez Juarez enfrenta a Lupita Godinez en UFC Vegas 39" . MMA.uno, #1 En noticias de Artes Marciales Mixtas (MMA) en Español. (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-10-06 .
^ Nolan King (2021-11-10). "With Jessica Penne out, Sam Hughes steps in against Luana Pinheiro at UFC Fight Night 198" . mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2021-11-11 . (in Portuguese)
^ Behunin, Alex (2021-11-20). "UFC Vegas 43: Luana Pinheiro Defeats Sam Hughes Via Unanimous Decision" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2021-11-21 .
^ "Istela Nunes enfrenta Sam Hughes em abril e busca a primeira vitória no UFC" . SUPER LUTAS (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-02-25 .
^ Anderson, Jay (2022-04-16). "UFC Vegas 51: Strong Second Half Leads to First Win for Sam Hughes, Over Istela Nunes" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2022-04-16 .
^ John Hyon Ko (April 19, 2022). Sam Hughes talks UFC victory after move to Fortis MMA, details toxic environment with former team – via YouTube.
^ Behunin, Alex (2022-05-03). "Sam Hughes vs. Elise Reed Added To UFC Vegas 55 on May 21" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2022-05-03 .
^ Anderson, Jay (2022-05-21). "UFC Vegas 55: Sam Hughes Puts On Best Performance to Date Against Elise Reed" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2022-05-21 .
^ "Piera Rodriguez vs. Sam Hughes agregado a UFC Fight Night del 15 de octubre - MMA.uno, #1 En noticias de Artes Marciales Mixtas (MMA) en Español" . mma.uno (in Spanish). 2022-07-08. Retrieved 2022-07-09 .
^ Anderson, Jay (2022-10-15). "UFC Vegas 62: Piera Rodríguez Takes Decision Win In Super Close Fight with Sam Hughes" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2022-10-19 .
^ Raghuwanshi, Vipin (2023-02-10). "Jaqueline Amorim set for debut at UFC 287 against Sam Hughes" . www.itnwwe.com . Retrieved 2023-02-10 .
^ Bitter, Shawn (2023-04-08). "UFC 287: Sam Hughes Rains on Parade of Debuting Jaqueline Amorim" . Cageside Press . Retrieved 2023-04-09 .
^ "Yazmin Jauregui vs. Sam Hughes set for UFC's February return to Mexico City" . MMA Junkie . 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-22 .
^ Anderson, Jay (2024-02-24). "UFC Mexico City: Yazmin Jauregui Cruises Past Sam Hughes" . www.cagesidepress.com . Retrieved 2024-02-24 .
^ "UFC adds Azat Maksum vs. CJ Vergara to Abu Dhabi fight card" . MMA Junkie . 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2024-06-06 .
^ Val Dewar (2024-08-03). "UFC Abu Dhabi: 'Sampage' Hughes Hands Viktoria Dudakova First-Ever Loss" . cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2024-08-03 .
^ Sherdog.com. "Sam Hughes" . Sherdog .
External links