Terror: A Bleacher Report Exclusive Interview with Matt Serra

Former UFC Welterweight champion Matt “The Terror” Serra is just three months removed from his grudge match against fellow former champion Matt Hughes at UFC 98.

It was a three round battle in which Serra showcased his ever evolving skills yet despite a valiant effort the judges awarded the decision victory to Hughes.

Since the loss there have been several questions that have been asked about Serra’s future.

Some fans have speculated that the native of Long Island, NY will retire from the cage and focus more on his family and his schools. Other fans believe he will instead drop down to the lightweight division and work his way up to a rematch with B.J Penn.

In this exclusive interview Serra answers all of those questions and also talks about his brand new action figure from Round 5.


Mitch Ciccarelli: Well, first off let's talk about your new figurine from Round 5. What's it like having your own action figure? How do you think they did with the final design of it?

Matt Serra: Oh dude that is awesome let me tell you, I'm excited. They sent me my figurine and it's cool man, it's cool as hell. I love the design and it's really well made. You know I grew up on G.I Joe and stuff like that so to have your own figurine is just really cool, man. That's something that's going to stay with me, you know?

Mitch Ciccarelli: Oh, absolutely. Well what do you think it means for MMA in terms of the mainstream media for Round 5, Jakks Pacific, and other organizations to create a series of MMA fighter action figures?

Matt Serra: I think it's huge and it's amazing how far we've come, you know? And you look at the Round 5 figurines and also the video game [UFC 2009] Undisputed and it's just amazing. I've been in this since 2001 so to see how far its come is just awesome, man. I'm so happy to be a part of it.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Which is cooler, having your own action figure or having your own video game character?

Matt Serra: I'll tell you, both of them are awesome. I love the video game but the figurine will never get old. They'll keep making video games and they will keep getting better and hopefully I'll be in the new ones, you know? But as far as the figurine that will never get old, it makes you almost immortalized.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Did you get a chance to play UFC 2009 Undisputed? What did you think of it?

Matt Serra: Oh, I play that on a regular basis online on Xbox Live. I love it, I'm a gamer man. And most importantly it makes me look pretty good on there. I'm beating the crap out of people, I love it.

Mitch Ciccarelli: I just want to give you my late congratulations on becoming a father. You're first born Angelina was born back in February of this year. What's it like being a father?

Matt Serra: It's great, man. My daughter is six months old and it's great, man [being a dad]. I have fun and now she's really having fun, she's laughing, and she's got her own little personality and that's exciting, man. Me and my wife are really having a good time [being parents].

Mitch Ciccarelli: Awesome, man. Well do you think she will develop into a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wizard like her dad someday?

Matt Serra: [Laughs] Well she's definitely going to be training because God knows all those little boys are going to be going after her and you know if anyone attacks my little girl they are going to be getting arm locked. She's going to be training at an early age for sure.

Mitch Ciccarelli:  [Laughs] Nice, man. Are you guys planning on having more kids in the future or are you settling on having just the one child?

Matt Serra: My wife wants to try so I'm going to be getting at least three or four.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Cool, well let's talk about your fighting career for a little bit. Obviously you had a tough fight in your last bout against Matt Hughes. A fight where myself and others believed you had it won on points but the judges saw differently. What do you think was the reasoning behind the judge’s decision? Are they just biased against Italians?

Matt Serra: I was shocked, man. Both our first names are Matt so I'm thinking my hands about to get raised. I thought I won that fight and I'm standing by it. I'm not going to diss Matt Hughes anymore because we did fight so there should be some respect there, but at the same time I will say on the record that I felt that I won that fight and I would love a rematch. I told Joe Silva to set it up and call it "unfinished business," so there you go. I didn't get beat, you know?

Mitch Ciccarelli: When is the next time we will see you in the Octagon?

Matt Serra: I talked with Joe Silva when we were in Philadelphia and we should be talking by the end of this month and find out what I'm doing. I just want fights that excite people at this point, man. I got the belt, I had the belt, and if I win it back again that's awesome, but if not I just want to put on exciting fights with names.

Like me vs. Hughes was exciting and I would love a rematch with him. There are also other guys out there that I'm sure will be exciting fights so we'll talk it over with Joe Silva and when I know, you'll know for sure.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Well, let's talk about your schools [Serra Jiu-Jitsu Academies]. How's everything going over there?

Matt Serra: With the schools that's what I do full-time. It's funny because guys don't see me fight as much as other guys but I do have two businesses, two martial arts schools, Serra Jiu-Jitsu out here on Long Island with 600 plus students so I'm constantly involved. I'm a full-time martial artist so I've always got my head in the game and I keep busy. I love to teach and I'll be doing that for the rest of my life. As far as the fighting and the teaching, I'm a lucky guy, I've got two things I love to do because I love to do them both.

Mitch Ciccarelli: What do you think about the growth of MMA in New York? What do you think is the main reason that legislators refuse to legalize the sport there, and how long do you think it will be before they change their minds about it?

Matt Serra: Man, I think we're right there. I think hopefully by January when it comes across the board again they will do the right thing. I mean it's sanctioned now in, I'm going to say 37 states, but it's probably more? Why does New York not want to make the money? I mean let me fight in my home state already, please come on. It's going to happen, the public wants it and it's really just a matter of time.

Mitch Ciccarelli: How cool would it be to compete on the very first UFC card in Madison Square Garden?

Matt Serra: Oh man, I plan on doing that. I'm doing my part to help get this legalized out here, and I know the UFC will do the right thing and put me on there. I think it would be awesome, man. There is so much history there so I mean that would be like a dream come true.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Talk about some of your fighters at your school. Who are some guys that we should look out for, guys that we will eventually see competing in the bigger shows like Strikeforce, the UFC, WEC, etc.?

Matt Serra: Well I'll tell you right now there's Chris Weidman who is a natural beast. He actually won the Abu Dhabi qualifier so he's going over there to Abu Dhabi. He trains with myself and Ray Longo and the guy is a four-time All-American wrestler, and I've never seen someone take to Jiu-Jitsu the way this kid has, he's so natural. A lot of times wrestlers blend well because of the grappling, but this kid was tapping out black belts before he even got his blue belt.

He's just a natural and you don't see guys like him come along too often. I believe he's 2-0 in MMA, or he might be 3-0, I have to see, but let me tell you the guy's a beast and I'm definitely putting money on him being in the UFC, that guy could be a champion one day. Believe me there is something beyond the hype, the kid is good.

I've got a lot of tough guys coming up with myself and Ray Longo. I've got guys cutting their teeth on the amateur circuit and you know they are young guys that will be making waves in the big leagues pretty soon. Thank God we've got amateur leagues these days because they didn't have any of this for me when I was coming up. MMA is more mainstream now so you've got guys cutting their teeth now where as back in the day in the East Coast that was hard to do.

I got thrown in there with Shonie Carter which was great but I mean the experience levels were just too different because back then there was such a gap in experience. I wasn't able to get the local competition and these guys are able to get that so I’m very pleased with that.

Mitch Ciccarelli: After your fight with Hughes you were asked by Joe Rogan about possibly dropping back down to 155. You said it's a tough cut and it would be difficult to give up the "sauce." Now most people don't understand it, but I was born and raised in Long Island, NY, and I'm half Italian as well so I know exactly what you mean as far as the sauce is concerned.

Matt Serra: [laughs] I know I joke around about it, but seriously when I’m training for a fight like the month before I don't even need pasta. I think it's because of my height [that people think I should drop down], you know? I'm 5'6" but you know Matt Hughes is one of the bigger guys in that division, and I thought I beat him and I did well with Georges in the first fight.

I feel good at welterweight and I've always done well at welterweight. At lightweight it's not like there are easier fights down there and I've got to choke myself to get down there. I've got the speed and quickness with my Jiu-Jitsu and I can fight off my back, you know? Matt Hughes couldn't do anything when he was on top of me and he's one of the better guys when he's on top. I'm looking forward to exciting fights at 170. Don't get me wrong, if there were a 165 or even a 162 I'd fight there but the 155 cut just kills me, man.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Do you think you would still possess that same knockout power you have at 170 if you were to drop back down to 155?

Matt Serra: You know, that's interesting, man. I'm not sure I mean back when I was fighting at lightweight I wasn't really trying to bang the guys out. I was strictly basing most of my strategy around my Jiu-Jitsu and that's why I had a good element of surprise for St. Pierre the first time I fought him. I feel I have evolved as a fighter and I feel very comfortable and dangerous standing up. It comes with the ring time and with the sparring so I've gotten that in so I feel more complete now than I ever have.

And really, in my last fight I could have fought all night, I felt comfortable everywhere. I'm not sure man, I'm just going to keep developing as a fighter and as a martial artist and we'll see what happens, but I'm not done yet.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Well you mentioned before about the talent pool at welterweight and how you want to put on exciting fights from here on out. Who do you think would be the most exciting match-up for you and why?

Matt Serra: There are a ton of guys out there, you know? I like that but I like the guys with a name and it's more of a bigger draw to it in other words. I think myself and Matt Hughes again would be awesome. I think Frank Trigg is back too so that would be interesting as well. There are a lot of guys out there so I don't know. Styles make fights and I think I match up well with a lot of the guys in the division so I’m excited about it.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Is winning back your title someday a goal that you will be working for in the future or is it just about putting on exciting fights from this point on?

Matt Serra: Man, you know the first time I won the title I didn't put any pressure on myself. I went onto the Ultimate Fighter house thinking, "Hey man, I'll go in there and get some good exposure for my schools and not put pressure on myself," and I did that and it led to the title. So you know I like that, I like that recipe, man. I'm just going to keep fighting and see what else goes down.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Cool, well the knockout over St. Pierre motivated a lot of people and I think it kind of gave you the image of like the "Rocky Balboa of MMA." Would you agree?

Matt Serra: Oh yeah, definitely man, and I love that. I love being the underdog. It fits right in there with me and it also helps that I'm 5'6" so that makes it even better. I'm the little rough guy going in there with the bigger dudes and I like that.

Mitch Ciccarelli:  Alright, Matt. Well thank you for taking the time out for this interview. I’ve run out of questions to ask you, but I just want to say I appreciate the interview and I want to wish you good luck with everything.

Matt Serra: Oh, hey man, thanks for having me and if anyone wants to know anything else go to mattserra.net and I appreciate it man. Thanks so much.