UFC hall-of-famer Matt Hughes was airlifted to hospital today after his truck was hit by a train.
The 43-year-old Hughes is reported to have been driving his pickup truck eastbound on the Beelers trail in Raymond, Illinois at approximately 10.45am when he crossed a set of railway tracks directly in front of a train.
The train then struck the passenger side of the truck, leaving Hughes seriously injured.
The retired fighter was airlifted to a nearby hospital afterwards, with UFC president Dana White revealing to ESPN that Hughes is believed to have suffered head trauma as a result of the crash and that his family are now on their way to be at his bedside.
Hughes is a true legend of the sport of mixed martial arts, having been a two-time welterweight champion who defended his title a total of seven times, strung together two seperate six-fight winning streaks in the Octagon and defeated a number of other major stars like Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn and Royce Gracie, before eventually retiring in 2011 with a 45-9 record.
Hughes had recently been toying with the idea of possibly making a comeback to the sportĀ earlier this year, but hadn’t fully committed to it.