Frank Trigg Surprised By Matt Hughes’ Recovery Following Accident

Back in June, UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes was involved in a serious accident in which the truck he was driving was hit by a train. He was hospitalized and even put in a coma. He has recovered quite well since then, as yesterday his friend Tony Zucca posted a video of Hughes returning to light grappling.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Frank Trigg spoke about Hughes’ recovery and the accident in general. Trigg is one of Hughes’ more well-known rivals and the two had two fights in the UFC. Here are highlights:

On Hughes’ recovery: “I am so happy that he made it through. And that his wife still has a husband. His twin brother still has a brother. His son still has a dad. It is huge. You can’t say enough about this guy. And he’s going to pull it together. Whether you believe in a higher power or not – he always has. He’s always been that guy who always leans on Jesus Christ, always leans on God. Whatever his belief system is, it worked for him, because he survived this (expletive). If I was in that thing, I would have been dead. One hundred percent, I would not have survived that thing. And he made it through.”

On being encouraged by what he’s seen: “Now, is he fully back? No. Does he have a long road to go? Absolutely. He’s got a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for six weeks or whatever, with a medically induced coma because of brain bleeding and brain swelling and all that stuff. Has he lost a bunch of weight, as the pictures showed? Of course, he was eating through a tube. He wasn’t chewing any of his own food, so he lost weight. Is he going to be able to grapple again or hit mitts again, or anything like that? We don’t know, we have to see that kind of game (note: the interview was conducted before the footage of Hughes grappling came out). But this fool survived a train accident and is trying to use the wheelchair with muscle atrophy. Trying to stand up and walk on his own. He’s a survivor.”

On being friends with Hughes after their rivalry: “It’s pretty cool to look back at like the Muhammad Ali (vs. Joe Frazier rivalry) – how 50 years later they were still arguing, they were still fighting, they didn’t like each other. And Matt and I have gotten to a space where we can be in the same room and not throw jabs at each other. Of course, I have to be a little more humble because he beat me twice, and that game has to be played when we’re together. But, man, I’m so happy. I can’t say enough good things about him surviving this thing.”