Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com spoke with former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes about his book, his loss to Georges St-Pierre, and his immediate future.

Matt talks about how daunting it was to think of going on a book tour immediately after losing to St-Pierre:

“I still had a pretty dark black eye, so people could see that I had been in a fight, and the fans knew the outcome of the GSP fight, but never once did I run across somebody who was any type of jerk, and everybody was respectful. If they said anything, what they said was ‘don’t retire.’ And now at the end of the book tour, I feel stronger than when I started it because everybody was so supportive in not wanting me to retire yet.”

Hughes took a significant amount of criticism for some of the stories he included in the book. Among them, he describes a private conversation he had with former UFC heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia about why Hughes did not like him. Matt does not apologize for such content.

“The number one thing that I wanted the book to get across was honesty,” he concurs. “I wanted people to know that what they were reading was the truth. I had a fairly long discussion with my wife about it and she wanted the same thing, so there’s a lot of stuff in there that didn’t need to be in there, but we just wanted a true account of what actually happened.”

In talking about his loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 79, Hughes admits he did follow his game plan. However, he’s definitely not retiring.

“I feel healthier now than I ever have, I’m really happy with my camp and who I’ve got, and I’ve got to put all the blame on me for that loss,” said Hughes of the St-Pierre fight. “I just didn’t go out there and do the things we worked on. I was hesitant and just wasn’t pulling the trigger like I should have. My camp got me in shape, I was ready to go, and I was just a little bit hesitant, so that’s on me, not on anybody else. So as healthy as I am and as much as I want to compete, I’m not going anywhere. First off, I would never retire off of a loss like that - never. Number two, I just feel super healthy.”

So, are the rumors true that he still wants to fight current champion, Matt Serra?

“I told (UFC President) Dana (White) that I might take a little time off to see my family and because I’m starting this new gym, the H.I.T. Squad, and I’m getting my clothing line out there,” he said. “But I want to see Georges and Matt fight, and I told Dana that I’d probably like to fight Matt Serra after that fight. If Matt loses, I’ll be looking to fight him.”

You heard it, Matt Hughes isn’t going anywhere.

“The fans will definitely see me in the Octagon again,” he said. “I will be there.”