In all honesty I’ve never been a huge fan of Matt Serra. It’s not to say that I disliked him, I just never really thought much about him. I’ve seen a few of his fights, and although his skills were impressive the thing I remembered him most for was getting KO’ed by that spinning back fist by Shonie Carter.
When it was announced that he’d be one of the participants of The Ultimate Fighter 4 I can remember thinking “oh cool, maybe it’ll give him a chance to shine” and in my opinion Serra was one of few contestants who really stood out in that show, partly because of his personality, and his constant yelling of “hammerfist!” to whichever teammate he was cornering at the particular time. Over the course of the show I grew to like Serra, and eventually he became my pick to win the welterweight division of the show.
Still though, I couldn’t really say I was a Matt Serra fan. Until Saturday night....
On April 7th, 2007 Matt Serra did the unthinkable, and shocked the World when he utterly destroyed then Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre with a first-round TKO. In the days leading in to this fight I read a lot of the sites claiming Serra didn’t have a “snowball’s chance in hell” of beating St. Pierre, and how he should go ahead and call it quits now because he was in for a beating. As I sit here and write this, I wonder if those people are full from all of the humble pie they’ve had to eat since that night.
Ever since seeing the UFC 69 pre fight shows, and listening to Serra talk about how he doesn’t mind being the underdog I began to develop a newfound respect for the guy. I mean it’s one thing when a few people don’t think you can do it, but it’s entirely different when NO ONE (including UFC management) thinks you can. Serra seemed to take it all pretty well and just went on with a “whatever” attitude about it. This past Friday I remember talking to MMA Komikazee’s own “Juicebox” and telling him "I don’t know man, I think Serra’s going to pull it off. He’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain." Being the total GSP mark that he is, he replied with "there’s NO WAY he’s going to do it. GSP is going to kill him....I’m not even worried about this fight." The expression on his face Saturday night said it all.
The man who had defeated arguable the greatest welterweight champion of all time, and my personal favorite fighter Matt Hughes, lost his title in his very first title defense to a man that went in with -800 odds. It was priceless.
Last month I witnessed something remarkable when I saw one of my favorite fighters Randy “The Natural” Couture come out of his year long retirement to face the seemingly unstoppable Heavyweight Champ Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia, and not only beat him, but give Sylvia a lesson in what it’s like to REALLY defend your title. In so many words, he took him to school. I can honestly say that is one of the greatest things I have ever seen in MMA. I can now say the same thing about Last night’s title fight between Serra and St. Pierre. Once again the underdog (a bigger underdog that Couture) rose to the occassion and dealt out an ass beating to Pierre the likes of which he’s never seen before.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against St. Pierre. I think he’s a hell of a nice guy, and a great fighter, but personally I didn’t think he was ready for that belt even after he beat Matt Hughes. Say what you want, but carrying a World title, especially for the length that Hughes carried it for can begin to weigh on a person. When you walk around with that title around your waist you might as well be walking around with a bullseye because everyone in your division (and even some outside your division) are gunning for you. Hughes not only carried that title, but ran thru every opponent he faced (including St. Pierre the first time they met). As good as a fighter is, everyone loses from time to time, however the true test of a champion is whether or not he can come back from a loss. Much like former Champions Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes, I have no doubts that GSP will come back better than ever, as he truly is the future of the sport....however, we’re in the present, not the future (I sound like Mike Goldberg).
Having said that, this column isn’t about Georges St. Pierre and what kind of guy he is, it’s about Matt Serra and his amazing victory over an opponent that was supposedly going to destroy him. This fight couldn’t have been scripted better then how it came out. When it was time for the title fight, Serra walked to the ring with a remix of the Rocky theme playing behind him. He looked determined, he looked focus, and most importantly, he looked confident.
When the bell sounded the two fighters came out looking to size each other out. St. Pierre nearly landed a head hick that Serra blocked, when this happened I thought "Serra’s height is going to come into play. He’s at the right height to be nailed with those head kicks." However, the next kick St. Pierre attempted Serra caught him off guard by catching the kick and throwing a punch. Finally, the moment came when Serra rocked St. Pierre with a right hook that sent him stumbling, seeing this Serra did what any smart fighter would do and seized the opportunity to dish out some serious punishment....and that’s just what he did. After landing another hard shot Serra sent St. Pierre to the ground, got the full mount and began to rain down blow after blow until St. Pierre had no choice but to tap out. At this point I was yelling at the top of my lungs "come on Matt, hit him again!" and when “Big” John McCarthy finally stepped in I all but did a back flip off of my seat....the -800 underdog had just done the impossible, he had beaten the seemingly unstoppable Georges St. Pierre....WOW!
The crowd at my local Hooters (the only place to watch UFC) was stunned. I honestly don’t think most of them knew how to react. Were they going to boo that St. Pierre had lost his title in his first title defense, or were they going to cheer that the MMA’s biggest underdog had just beaten all the odds and captured Welterweight gold? It took all of about 5 sec for them to realize the latter and begin cheering for Matt Serra.
After we all had time to digest what had just happened I couldn’t have been happier. Again, it’s not that I dislike St. Pierre, but I didn’t buy into this whole “he’s going to rule the Welterweight division for a long, long time” BS that people were peddling. One month earlier Randy Couture did almost the same thing when he shocked the World by not only beating Tim Sylvia, but by making it look easy....why wouldn’t I cheer for another underdog?
Right now my respect for Matt Serra is at an all time high. I’ve gone from thinking "he’s ok" to really admiring his confidence and perseverence against the incredible odds that were stacked against him. Even fans of St. Pierre have to give it up to the “little guy” from Long Island. St. Pierre proved that NO ONE is invincible with his victory over Matt Hughes in November, and Matt Serra just re-established that fact by basically replaying that same fight, only with St. Pierre in Hughes’ place (even though Hughes did last longer and didn’t tap out.)
All I have to say right now is that Georges St. Pierre has just shown that he needs to get back and improve his game in order to be a TRUE champion. I have no doubts that he will be champion again, however that time is not now. He’s young, he’s athletic, and he’s a great fighter, but he choked under the pressure and pressure is part of the game when you walk around with that belt. Someday we will see the reign of St. Pierre, however right now it’s Matt Serra’s time to shine and the “reign of terror” in the Welterweight division is about to begin.
Once again I have to give it up to Matt Serra who proved that as long as you believe in yourself, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. Good job Matt!