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Matt Hughes
Matthew Allen Hughes was born on October 13, 1973, in Hillsboro, Illinois, a small rural community in the heart of the American Midwest. Growing up on a farm with his twin brother Mark, Hughes developed the physical toughness and work ethic that would later define his fighting career. He discovered wrestling in high school and quickly excelled, eventually earning a scholarship to Lincoln College before transferring to Eastern Illinois University, where he became a two-time Division I All-American.
Full profile →BJ Penn
Jay Dee Penn, universally known as BJ Penn, was born on March 13, 1978, in Kailua, Hawaii. Growing up in the islands, Penn was exposed to martial arts culture from an early age, but it was his discovery of Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 17 that ignited a passion which would reshape his life and the sport of mixed martial arts. Within just three years of beginning his jiu-jitsu training, Penn achieved something unprecedented: he became the first non-Brazilian to win the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship at black belt level, earning the nickname "The Prodigy" for his extraordinary rate of development.
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