November 17, 2006
TAKING ON THE WRONG COUNTRY
UFC champion Hughes takes swipe at Canada over foreign policy(Neil Davidson, The Globe and Mail, November 17th, 2006)
UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes took a swipe north of the border Thursday, moving out of his mixed martial arts comfort zone to criticize Canada's foreign policy and Canadians' hearts.The fighting farmer from Hillsboro, Ill., who is preparing for a title defence Saturday night against Montreal's Georges St. Pierre at Arco Arena in the main event of UFC 65: Bad Intentions, was asked at a news conference Thursday about some of his past comments about Canada.
Prior to the first Hughes-St. Pierre fight in October 2004, Hughes said "Who wants to lose to a Canadian in a street fight?" St. Pierre has alleged more slurs prior to this bout.
Hughes was asked by a Canadian reporter Thursday if such comments were mere pre-fight hype and whether he wanted to clarify his attitude towards those north of the border.
"Well, if you look back at history, I don't think Canada's had big wars or anything like that. They're not a violent country, can we say that? Would you agree?" the 170-pound champion asked the reporter.
Told Canada had done its bit, Hughes responded: "You've done your bit. Well I'm from America and I think we're fighters, as a country. Look where we're at, we're all over. That's what I was talking about."
Word has it an enraged St. Pierre is hellbent on revenge and is demanding expedited mediation.
Leave the country-bashing stereotypes to the professional wrestlers, I say; they're better at it.
Posted by: Just John at November 17, 2006 1:23 PMCanadians will always mention they fought in both World Wars long before the US did.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at November 17, 2006 6:31 PMIt’s true that Canada fought in both world wars before we did. In fact my wife’s great uncle was one of the youngest soldiers at 16 during the Great War. I also know a great friend of my mother in laws whose husband now departed landed on D-Day. Having said this, years of liberal governments has left the Canadian armed forces in shambles. For example when you add up the number of CF-18 Hornets on the active rolls you end up with less fighter planes than the U.S. Air Force’s 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB NC. Truly a sad state of affairs for a country that has a lot of military pride.
Posted by: Billmil at November 18, 2006 6:52 AM