Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like a good, old fashion grudge match and on May 23rd that is exactly what we are going to get as two former champions finally square off inside the octagon!
Former UFC welterweight champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra have been at each other’s throats for several years now and will finally get a chance to settle the score as part of the co-main event for UFC 98.
After spending six weeks coaching against each other on the sixth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV, the two were originally supposed to fight each other for the welterweight title at UFC 79 back in December of 2007. Unfortunately, Serra severely injured his back and the fight was cancelled.
Fast forward two years, and both fighters are coming off dominating losses and are in desperate need of a win.
For Hughes, he was completely outclassed by current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79. Only a few months later Hughes also suffered a devastating knock out at the hands of the current No. 1 contender, Thiago Alves at UFC 85.
Matt Hughes was once considered to be the most dominant welterweight fighter in the entire world, but now anytime Hughes in mentioned in a conversation the topic of retirement is always brought up.
Matt Serra also suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of St. Pierre at UFC 83 and is looking to bounce back into title contention with a win over Hughes. Injuries and the birth of his first-born child have kept Serra on the sidelines and he hasn’t fought in over a year.
This is one of the most anticipated grudge matches in UFC history and should go down in the record books as an instant classic.
I am going to go in-depth and analyze the history, the rivalry, keys to victory and the futures of both of these fighters.
Enough chit chat, let’s get this thing started!
The History:
Matt “The Terror” Serra, a long time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, and the first American black belt under Renzo Gracie, began his MMA career in 1999. Serra went undefeated in his first three fights by overwhelming his opponents with his aggressive style of Jiu-Jitsu and finished all three fights in the first round with a submission.
Serra made his UFC debut back in 2001 at UFC 31 against Shonie “Mr. International” Carter in a classic fight. The fight was a three round war with Serra controlling most of the action with his aggressive Jiu-Jitsu base. Unfortunately for Serra, all anyone remembers about that fight was the ending where Shonie knocked Serra out with an incredible spinning back fist that seemingly came out of nowhere.
Since then, Serra has assembled victories over the likes of Yves Edwards, Kelly Dulanty, Jeff Curran, Ivan Menjivar, Chris Lytle, and Georges St. Pierre, as well as losses to the likes of B.J Penn, Din Thomas, Karo Parisyan, and Georges St. Pierre.
Serra was a contestant on the “Ultimate Fighter Season 4: The Comeback” and ended up defeating Chris Lytle in the finals to earn a guaranteed title shot against Georges St. Pierre.
Matt Serra became a huge fan favorite while competing on the reality show. Serra has a great sense of humor but he also doesn’t take crap from anyone and he stands up for what he believes in; the altercation he had with Marc Laimon on the show is a great example of that.
In the title fight with GSP at UFC 69, everyone expected St. Pierre to completely dominate Matt Serra. Nobody gave Serra a chance but he went out there and shocked the world by knocking St. Pierre out in the first round to win the UFC welterweight title.
Some people called Serra’s victory a fluke or a “lucky punch”, but I just think that on that particular night Matt Serra was the better fighter and hungry for the gold.
Obviously, Serra lost the title in a rematch to St. Pierre last year but make no mistake about it, Matt Serra is still one of the best welterweights in the world and hopefully he will be able to prove it to you by fighting on a more consistent basis in 2009-2010.
His arch rival Matt Hughes is arguably the best UFC champion of all time and a future inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.
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