10 MMA Fights That Were The Beginning Of The End For Legends

10. Matt Hughes Vs. Georges St-Pierre - UFC 65

Matt Hughes continued to fight for a further five years after his UFC 65 loss to Georges St-Pierre, yet it was that November 2006 fight that can be pinpointed as the beginning of the end for Hughes.

Before that UFC 65 defeat, Hughes had won 19 of his previous 20 fights across a near-six-year period. This is somebody who was the very definition of a UFC Hall of Famer, yet that Hall of Fame career started to show its first real cracks when Matt matched up with GSP for a second time.

At UFC 50, Hughes submitted St-Pierre in the first round of a contest for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship. Up until then, Rush had been untouchable, with many predicting him to topple Hughes at UFC 50. Matt Hughes would prove that he still had it as he dominated GSP in that first fight, but the rematch was a passing of the torch as Georges got his revenge with a TKO victory.

To put an exclamation point on all of this, St-Pierre would then submit Hughes in a UFC 79 fight that served as the rubber match between the pair.

Matt Hughes would still show glimpses of his old self up until his retirement in 2011 - in particular in his UFC 98 war against Matt Serra - although the NCAA Division I standout's decline can be traced back to UFC 65.

Ironically, it's that UFC 65 fight that is largely seen as the bout which cemented GSP's own status as a true MMA legend.