"I am nervous for this fight!"

This sentence has been uttered numerous times by Bas Rutten, the former Ultimate Fighting Heavyweight Champion turned mixed martial arts commentator. And when Bas says it, you know the fight in question is not only important, it's likely to be an instant classic.

I must confess that I am nervous for this weekend's UFC welterweight title fight. While it may be quite common for me to get excited about a UFC event, I rarely ever get nervous. In the nine-plus years I've been watching this sport, I have only felt this way twice. Both times the cause of my heightened anticipation has been the fact that one of my most favoritest fighters is heading into a high stakes battle with an opponent who appears every bit his equal. Matt Hughes is my #1 guy among active fighters, and I have a great emotional investment in whether or not he is able to prevail.

Hughes, the current 170-lb title holder, is about to throw down for the second time with "The Prodigy" B.J. Penn- the only man who's beaten Matt since he won his first belt back in November of 2001. Hughes is the most dominant champion in the history of the UFC, and he has achieved this feat competing within the organization's most stacked division.

During his first title run, Hughes successfully defended his belt five times. The only other man to reach this milestone is former Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz. Yet, in my opionion, Tito's accomplisment is less astounding (though still impressive) because he spent a good chunk of his title reign ducking Chuck Liddell. Hughes, however, improved his stats by consistently taking on top competition and never backing down from an offer sheet the UFC set in front of him. Who knows just how many consecutive defenses he could have tallied if he hadn't faltered in his his first meeting with B.J. Penn.

What follows is my account of the history behind this fight. If you're not really interested in such fine details, then -by all means -feel free to skip down to the next line of red text.

Hughes-Penn I went down on January, 31, 2004 at UFC 46. The champion came into the fight highly favored and highly confident...hindsight would suggest too confident. Penn choked him out before the close of the first round. A poor takedown attempt by Hughes led to bad positioning on the mat underneath B.J. While holding the top position, Penn soon landed a thunderous right hand to Matt's head. The dazed champ was then easy pickins for a submission, and the most impressive title reign the UFC had ever seen came to an end.

Penn never defended his belt. A contract dispute temporarily ended his relationship with the UFC, and he was stripped of the title. In October 2004, Hughes recaptured the gold by defeating top Canadian contender George St. Pierre in a fight for the vacant championship. Since that win, Hughes has continued to look more and more dominant. His first round stoppages of Frank Trigg (rear naked choke), Joe Riggs (kimura), and the original UFC legend Royce Gracie (TKO) were impressive to say the least.

But while Hughes continued cementing his legacy as one of the greatest of all time, many MMA fans still challenged the legitimacy of his second title run. Such detractors claimed that Hughes would have to avenge his loss to B.J. Penn before he could rightfully be called the champion. In March of this year, Penn returned to the UFC with an opportunity to face Hughes a second time and prove that he was the true champion. All he had to do was defeat the resurgent St. Pierre in a No. 1 contender fight. And though Penn dominated the opening round, he seemed to take the second and third off. St. Pierre took advantage and edged out Penn for a split decision victory.

After his loss to St. Pierre, claims that Penn was the "real" champ lost much, if not all, of their weight. Hughes-St. Pierre II was announced for September 23rd, and Penn was unofficially scheduled to face an unheralded Japanese opponent on October 10th. However, as St. Pierre trained for his long awaited title shot, he suffered a badly pulled groin muscle. Less than a month away from the fight, St. Pierre's camp notified the UFC that their man would not be healthy enough to compete by late September.

However, this potentially devastating turn of events ended up opening the door to an even more compelling showdown. Already in training for his October fight, B.J. Penn agreed to step in to replace St. Pierre. The fact that Penn is not the true No. 1 contender is not taking any of the steam out of the hype for this match up...for me or anyone else it seems. This is the fight most fans really want to see. (And for those of you who may be wondering what is to become of St. Pierre, don't worry. He's been promised the winner; a fight most likely to take place on a December 3oth Pay-Per-View.)

I think every sports fan wants to believe that, in their own lifetime, they have witnessed the greatest athletes in the history of their chosen sport(s). I suspect this is one of the underlying motivations for our collective obsession with records and statistics. In our desire to confirm for ourselves that we have seen the most elite masters of their craft in action, we turn to the objective data to support our arguments, as well as to suppress our doubts.

For example, we say things like: "Michael Jordan has six NBA championships, six Finals MVP trophies, and more individual scoring titles than you can shake a stick at. Who else can measure up to that?" Or, "Tiger Woods may not have passed Jack Nicklaus' record for most majors won just yet, but he's on pace to shatter every record the Golden Bear ever set." And so on.

But what is most rewarding is when we think we've identified the best ever and it's my guy (or my team). In the '90s, I knew a whole slew of Indianapolis natives who has no personal ties to the city of Chicago but still claimed the Bulls as their favorite basketball team. Why? Because His Airness didn't play for the Pacers. He played for the Bulls. Whatever the respectability of their motives, these folks felt compelled to cheer for the greatest basketball player ever despite his regional location. They were drawn to Jordan like an Asian tourist to Disney World.

The still burgeoning sport of mixed martial arts is no different. Dave Scott is no different. I want to believe that one of my fighters is the best ever. My favorite fighter of all time, Randy Couture, is a good candidate. But the case for him isn't watertight and his recent retirement shuts the door on him strengthening his bid any further.

But, Matt Hughes, still has a chance. If his career ended today, his name would still have to receive ample representation within the debate. But if he could avenge that one glaring blemish on his record, the naysayers would have a very hard time finding something to pick at. In short, to solidify his place as the greatest UFC champion of all time...dare I say, the greatest fighter period...Matt Hughes has to beat B. J. Penn.

What makes me so nervous is that there is a very good chance that B. J. might beat Matt. The odds makers have the champion as a slight favorite. But after listening to interviews with other fighters on the UFC 63 card, it seems the professionals themselves are divided and unsure about who will hold the title on the 24th. I keep reading more and more articles about the fight, hoping one journalist will give me an iron-clad argument for why Matt will undoubtedly retain his title. If I had that, then I could relax. Unfortunately, I've yet to find it.

Nothing is left but to wait and then to watch. The PPV start time for UFC 63 is now about 27 hours away. Right now, that modest amount of time seems like an eternity.