Sam Hughes expects big year despite UFC debut loss

After a debut loss in the UFC, former LFA stand-out Sam Hughes is hoping to make waves in the new year with a new fight contract. Hughes, took a massive short-notice fight at UFC 256 against the ninth ranked straw weight contender Tecia Torres. Despite a short-lived fight (doctors’ stoppage and the end of round 1) Hughes described how the fight, on five days notice, even came to be.

“We knew, possibly, there was a call coming,” she stated.

“I didn’t know how short notice or who the fighter would be, but we totally expected a short notice fight. Then we were sort of looking towards the end of the year. My coach said, ‘You never know it could be Tecia, and I started laughing’ and sure as shit, it happened,” she exclaimed.

Hughes, who trains out of Seattle, Wash. knew she had a tough fight ahead of her but was willing to battle Torres, especially after several other fighters, allegedly, turned the fight down. And despite the loss, Hughes is happy for the quick fight and racapped her feelings at the end of the round.

“If it wasn’t for the incidental eye poke I would’ve been super ready to go round two and three,” she stated.

“I was looking forward to gaining momentum and I was confident,” she continued.

Hughes isn’t the first fighter call up on short notice. And while the fight may have caught her off-guard, she knew a date with the UFC wasn’t far away.

“My coach was putting that in my ear the whole time, basically since my last fight in October in LFA,” she said.

“And after that choke my coach basically was like, ‘dude, that choke has wheels. You need to start posting on your instagram, increase your social media,'” she continued.

“I knew I was on their radar, I just didn’t know how quickly they were trying to look for a fight for me,” she finished.

Hughes later spoke on the social media presence that may have lifted her to the highest tier in MMA. While athletic ability and hardwork will always be cornerstone of a professional athletic career, she was a bit intrigued how much social media would weigh on such a decision.

“This is definitely something I struggle with,” she admitted.

“My coach is always on me for posting on social media, posting on my story, making sure I’m always super frequent on that stuff. Training isn’t difficult … for some reason social media seems to be very hard for me. Obviously, it’s visibility so I know it’s super important. But as frequently as possible for any athlete, any fighter, they should make social media a priority so that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”

With the official start of the new year for the UFC, Hughes is excited to see what future fights are in store for her.