Team Hughes has been training hard, and is set to make its initial appearance soon. But in a new turn of events, Ultimate Fighter 5 veteran Corey Hills has chosen not to become part of the squad instead. In doing so, he will be stepping back and leaving team leader Matt Hughes, a previous welterweight division victor several times for the UFC, along with middleweight champion Robert "Ruthless" Lawler and mixed martial arts tyro Jacob Hey. In a previous story, it was reported that Hughes had entered into a venture of opening a training center covering an area of more than 13,000 square feet.
The gym is named Hughes Intensive Training (H.I.T.), and is located in Granite City, Illinois. Its construction and planned future opening to the public coincided with Hughes' ambition of forming his own fight team, which would have been comprised of himself, Hills, Lawler, and Hey. It has been stated that Hills had chosen to explore other possible options instead, rather than stay with Team Hughes. In several statements, Marc Fiore explained that Hills was the type of fighter they were wanted to bring into the gym. Fiore has worked for a long time with Hughes as a cornerman, and he will also supervise and coach their regimen of wrestling practice.
In addition, Fiore also said that the team still wished for Hill to have good luck in his fighting and training career. During the time that the statements were made, Hill had not yet explained his own side on the issue of backing out, though everything seemed to officially remain cordial between him and his fellow fighters. For upcoming matches, Lawler and Hey will be the featured combatants in Team Hughes' debut. Lawler is set to battle EliteXC middleweight title holder Murilo "Ninja" Rua, while Hey will face Georgi Karakhanyan.
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