Hughes-Sanchez Official for Denver’s UFC 135

Headlined by a light heavyweight title throwdown between champion Jon Jones and challenger Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, UFC 135 goes down Sept. 24 from the Pepsi Center in Denver. Though not officially added to the event’s fight card, a lightweight scrap between Nate Diaz and Takanori Gomi is also expected take place at UFC 135, as is a bantamweight tilt pitting Damacio Page against Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.

A UFC hall of famer, Hughes (Pictured; file photo) is a two-time welterweight champion. Known for his powerful takedowns and vicious ground-and-pound, the wrestler terrorized the 170-pound ranks for years before falling on hard times and losing his title for the final time. After dropping three of four fights from 2006 to 2008, the 37-year-old experienced a resurgence in the next two years, outpointing Matt Serra before finishing Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida, respectively. However, Hughes had his three-fight winning streak snapped by old nemesis B.J. Penn in November, when the Hawaiian knocked him out in just 21 seconds at UFC 123.

Like Hughes, Sanchez has seen his share of ups and downs in the Octagon. After debuting with the promotion as the inaugural middleweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Sanchez rattled off six straight wins before dropping back-to-back bouts and moving to lightweight. Then known as “The Nightmare,” Sanchez won four in a row in his new weight class before falling in his attempt to capture the 155-pound title from Penn in 2009. Since returning to welterweight, the Greg Jackson pupil is 2-1 and rides back-to-back wins over Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann heading into his showdown with Hughes.