Hughes on filling in for Liddell, his health and the growth of UFC

When Chuck Liddell tore a hamstring while training for a June 7 bout in London, UFC president Dana White called Matt Hughes and asked if he'd be willing to step in on short notice.

He was.

"We're alike in that we always do what the UFC wants," Hughes, 34, said of him and Liddell. "Chuck didn't even want to pull out of the fight and Dana made him."

Fighting 24-year-old Thiago Alves (14-3), a rising welterweight representing American Top Team, Hughes said he wanted to help his promoter's latest pay-per-view, which airs live in the United States on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.

Speaking over the phone Monday while driving from his hometown of Hillsboro, Ill., to St. Louis, Miss., where in just a few short hours Hughes (42-6) was departing for the United Kingdom, the multiple-time 170-pound champion said he liked the idea of fighting Alves. "That's why I took the fight," Hughes said.

Gross: Had you ever considered Thiago Alves as an opponent?

Hughes: No, I've never considered him as an opponent, but to be honest, I really don't consider anybody an opponent. Whatever the UFC wants to do.

Gross: You've never been compelled to fight anybody?

Hughes: No, I don't think so. I do want to fight [Matt] Serra because we've not fought since the reality show, and they know that, so I think that's next. But, no, I've never really asked for anybody.

Gross: Did it make it easier to take this fight against Alves knowing you were going to get Serra either way?