In Matt Hughes’ most recent blog entry on his website he gave his recap of the Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre bout that took place this past Saturday at UFC 83.

From Matt-Hughes.com:

GSP had a good game plan to take Matt Serra down and wear him out. I found myself rooting for Serra at the end of the second round, I wanted him to make it to the third round. I thought if it would get to the third round GSP would decide to stand up with him and possibly knock him out. I just wanted Matt to get beat on for five rounds, not just two; but I knew the ref was about ready to stop it. The UFC said that if Serra loses I get him, but I don’t know when that will be. I’m going to guess six to eight months, so I’ve found myself watching my diet and exercising more.

Well, if you wondering whether or not there was still interest in a fight between Hughes and Serra then I guess this blog entry proves it.

I guess I should apologize for luring you in with a headline that was kind of out of context. But fear no more, the sky is still blue, donuts are still plentiful and Matt Hughes is still a douche bag.

Read more Matt Hughes content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

As if you needed anymore fuel to add to the fire for tonight’s event, Sherdog has a great pre-fight interview up with Matt Serra. He goes into detail about a lot of things, including his mindset, his training, his trainer and good friend Ray Longo, and more. But this nugget stuck out to me the most:

Sherdog.com: And this time around? The circumstances are quite different.

Serra: Well, I still think he’s looking at it … it’s interesting because he’s an interesting guy. Who knows what he’s thinking. He’s been more of the wrestler lately. I think he’s gotten a little gun-shy.

I don’t think Serra’s exactly correct here. Yes, GSP has certainly been more of a wrestler recently but I think that’s with very good reason. If you let your hands and feet fly against wrestlers like Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes, GSP’s last two opponents, you leave yourself susceptible to takedowns. If there’s one thing that GSP didn’t want during those two fights, it was either of those two guys on top of him. So what does he do? Beat them at their own game. I don’t think it has anything to do with being gun-shy and everything to do with gameplan.

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Georges St. Pierre and UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra recently made an appearance on TSN’s “Off the Record” program to hype their upcoming title fight at UFC 83, and things get a little tense.

Special thanks to Bloody Elbow.

Let the hype begin for Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra II, ladies and gentlemen. The Bell Centre has almost sold out for UFC 83 and tickets have not even gone on sale to the public yet. Not only are Canadian fans in a frenzy over the UFC, they’re in a frenzy over this fight in particular because it features their hometown boy. You think UFC 77 was “Hostile Territory”? Not even close to what kind of atmosphere the Bell Centre is going to be on April 19th. And to boot, Matt Serra is starting the talk already.

“But I’m a different fighter, I’m gonna pose some different problems, and I’m gonna be game. I don’t want to discredit any other guys – not that I care about discrediting Matt Hughes (laughs) – but there are certain things you have to risk, and a certain mindset you have to have when fighting a guy like Georges. There are guys who want to win either by playing it safe or by just trying to win a decision this way or that way, and that’s not the way to go. I believe this is not gonna be a five round fight – I believe it’s him or me, that’s the way I look at things, and I feel great about it.”

Serra may feel great about it, but I don’t. At least not about his chances of winning. St. Pierre has shown in his last two fights that he can take the best wrestlers in mixed martial arts down to the mat with relative ease and more importantly, keep them there. Serra is not a wrestler like Hughes or Koscheck and should be relatively easier to take down than either of those guys. St. Pierre has the more technical striking of the two fighters but Serra’s heavy hands make it dangerous for any fighter to stand in the pocket and let him wing wild bombs at your face.

St. Pierre needs to take this fight to the ground if he wants to ensure a victory and a unification of the titles. Serra has great jiu jitsu but it’s unlikely that he’ll submit St. Pierre off of his back because St. Pierre’s submission defense and his top control are so good. St. Pierre’s ground and pound is also underrated. He can throw devastating elbows from within an opponent’s guard. That’s the route to victory against Serra. Just look at what Karo Parisyan was able to do on top of Serra and he’s nowhere near the wrestler that St. Pierre is. It’s tough to find an advantage for Serra in this fight even though he beat St. Pierre handily last time around but if he’s going to win this fight he’s going to need to land the wild bomb in the opening moments of the fight or control St. Pierre from the top, which is a huge task unto itself.

Serra’s right, it probably won’t go five rounds. And it probably won’t go in his favor.

I also love how Serra can’t help but take a jab at Matt Hughes whenever he gets a chance. He and Hughes deserve each other, they really do.

Check out more UFC 83 content on FiveOuncesofPain.com

When: April 19, ‘08
Where: Montreal, Canada @ the Bell Centre
Watch: PPV

Main Event is the Welterweight Title grudge match between interim champ GSP and injured champ Matt Serra.

Here’s the latest on the UFC 83 event:

• Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre (Title Unification)
• Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter
• Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy
• Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher
• Marc Bocek vs. Mac Danzig
• Joe Doerksen vs. Jason MacDonald
• Ed Herman vs. Demian Maia
• Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes
• Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Jonathan Goulet
• Sam Stout vs. Rich Clementi

Fight card subject to change; bouts will be added as we confirm them.

Check out more UFC 83 content on 5 Oz. of Pain.

Georges St. Pierre is apparently not too happy with what Matt Serra had to say about him after their last fight:

“We’ll see what’s going to happen next time. We’ll see if he’s as good at fighting as he is at talking,” Rush said, growing noticeably hot under the collar. “I have respect for him, but he has said a lot of things about me. I will let my fists do the talking next time I fight him. I’ve never answered him back. Next time I fight him, he’s going to feel it.”

“He said I was giving excuses. Which is bad. I shouldn’t say those things. But I did. He said, ‘aw Frenchy, go back to your red wine and hockey game.’ I’m a Frenchy guy … okay man, we’ll see next time. I never answered back to him, but I’m going to let my fist answer back next time. He’s not my friend. I had a good relationship with him. He’s a nice guy, he was a nice guy, until he crossed the line. Perfect. It’s going to be a different story next time.”

If I was Matt Serra I’d be shivering in my boots. This is way worse than when GSP told Matt Hughes “I am not impressed with your performance.” When GSP talks trash it flies so far under the radar because he’s so bad at it. He is such a gentleman that it seems really hard for him to talk garbage about other fighters. But this? This is GSP at his finest. “I’m going to let my fist answer back next time.” You hear that, Matt Serra? His fist!

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UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra confirmed Friday that he will be defending his title against Georges St. Pierre sometime in April in Montreal, writes Mike Chiapetta of NBCSports.com:

Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre will meet for the UFC welterweight title during an April event in Montreal, Serra confirmed to NBCSports.com on Friday.

The April UFC event in Montreal is tentatively scheduled for April 19 at the Bell Centre.
The article also confirms rumors that Serra’s injured back, which prevented him from making a scheduled title defense against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on Dec. 29, is improving:

The Long Island native told NBCSports.com’s John Moody that his back has been rapidly improving and is excited about defending the championship, albeit in St. Pierre’s hometown.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS COLUMN ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra indicated in a recent interview with the Canadian Press that he believes he’ll be ready for a possible unification match with UFC interim welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in April:

The 33-year-old from Long Island, N.Y., has yet to resume full training from the two herniated discs in his lower back that forced him out of the recent UFC 79 grudge match against Matt Hughes in Las Vegas. But he says April sounds doable, even if it means venturing into hostile territory north of the border.

“I’m definitely up for that,” he told The Canadian Press in an interview.

It’s believed that the match between Serra and St. Pierre will take place in April in St. Pierre’s hometown of Montreal.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

There was a point in time where I defended Matt Hughes while others ripped him. That point ended a few months ago as I continually lose more and more respect for the guy.

While I consider him to be one of the sport’s greatest fighters, I also consider him to be one of its biggest hypocrite. He continually passes judgment on others while ignoring his own actions.

My latest beef has to do with Hughes’ self-righteous antics regarding the injury misfortunes of other fighters.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

Matt Serra talked to MMA Weekly about his injury:

“I wanted to work out at (Ray) Longo’s, doing the calisthenics and the pad work and at nighttime I was doing my jiu-jitsu and my wrestling. Everything went great and then they left. I was demonstrating a move. I was showing somebody something from mount and next thing you know, something felt like it clicked. I’ve never been stunned by a stun gun before, but that’s kind of what it felt like I guess.”

“My students had to help me up and I got through the shower pretty painfully. My brother had to get my socks and shoes on and then they took me home. Then, the next day, I went to the hospital, got an MRI. I’ve got two herniated discs in my lower back.”

Herniated discs don’t normally require surgery, but it all depends on the severity. My guess is that Serra will be sidelined for roughly 4-6 months, but again, that’s all speculation. I don’t blame him for pulling out of the fight if he can’t even get his shoes on. Trying to wrestle Matt Hughes would have been extremely excruciating.

Also, Serra gave his thoughts on the upcoming interim title fight between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre:

“I almost don’t want to say anything because chances are GSP’s going to beat his ass again, like worse than the first time, and I’m fighting GSP and not him,” Serra stated. “I’d rather fight Matt for more than one reason.”

Serra’s predicting an ass whoopin’, Canadian bacon style.

As you may or may not know, Matt Hughes announced on his website last night that he will be fighting Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79 on Dec. 29 for the interim welterweight title. The match was later confirmed via UFC.com.

This bout replaces the previously scheduled welterweight title match between Hughes and Matt Serra that was scrapped after Serra sustained a herniated disk in his lower back during a training session on Monday.

Sometimes pundits question the UFC’s matchmaking ability but it’s time to give credit where credit is due. The UFC has hit a homerun in signing the third installment of the trilogy between Hughes and GSP. Since Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell was not at its optimum marketing appeal, the loss of Hughes vs. Serra from the card after all the time and money that was put behind the promotion of it could have been a doomsday situation for the UFC. Simply put, a rumored replacement bout between Hughes and Thiago Alves wasn’t going to cut it.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

No, the headline you just read is not some elaborate “November Fools” joke.

UFC.com has revealed that the highly-anticipated welterweight title showdown between Matt Serra and Matt Hughes scheduled to take place on Dec. 29 at UFC 79 in Las Vegas has been postponed.

UFC president Dana White is quoted as making the announcement on Thursday and indicated that Serra is out of commission after having sustained a herniated disk in his back while training this past Monday.

“This is devastating news because they were so looking forward to fighting each other,” White is quoted as saying.

Fight fans will no doubt be disappointed by this news but it’s obvious that few people are more disappointed at the turn of events than Serra himself.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” the article quotes Serra as saying. “I’ve never had a back injury before; I could hardly get off of the MRI table. There is no way I can train through this, and I’m devastated, especially because this was such an important fight. I was looking forward to fighting Matt Hughes. All my training was going phenomenally until Monday — all I can do now is to get better and to fight again as soon as possible.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG.

UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra is scheduled to appear on The Bubba the Love Sponge Show today. The show can be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio on channel 101 every Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET and on Fridays from 6 a.m. ET until 10 a.m. ET.

The official website from The Bubba the Love Sponge Show is BTLS.com, which is an official content partner of FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

What: UFC 79
When: Dec. 29, ‘07
Where: Las Vegas, NV; Mandalay Bay
Watch: PPV starts at 10pm EST

Here’s the latest on the UFC 79 card:

• Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes (for the UFC Welterweight Title)
• Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell
• Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Ryoto Machida
• Nate Mohr vs. Manny Gamburyan
• Doug Evans vs. Mark Bocek
• Dean Lister vs. Jordan Radev
• Melvin Guillard vs. Rich Clementi
• Roan Carneiro vs. Tony DeSouza

We’ll keep updating as fights get signed…

Check out more UFC 79 content on 5 Oz. of Pain.

My latest article is now available on CBS Sportsline. In this week’s piece I take a look at who I believe will be the title holders in all of the UFC’s respective weight classes a year from now.

Click here to check it out. Enjoy.

I’m running short on time but I wanted to pass along these UFC tidbits…

* Dana White was a guest on the Jim Rome show today and reiterated once again that he’s working on a fight between Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva. White apparently said if it goes down, it’ll be the biggest MMA match in history.

* I didn’t hear it personally, but apparently Josh Gross said on Sherdog Radio today that Pride may not be entirely said. According to listeners who left message board posts, Gross said that Lorenzo Fertitta has said that a Pride show in Japan is possible for July and August and that a Pride show in the U.S. has been discussed.

* Steve Bruno from American Top Team is off the June 12 Fight Night Card. He was supposed to fight Chad Reiner. No replacement has been named. Sorry, this is old news.

* Some of you may have seen the Tapout show this past Sunday night where the reality show depicted a scenario in which Matt Serra severed his business relationship with the MMA apparel company just prior to his win over Matt Hughes. Serra has issued a press release taking issue with how everything was portrayed, claiming there was some misleading editing done:

In the recent episode of the television show TAPOUT, several issues regarding Matt Serra’s affiliation with the company were brought into question. Matt wants it to be known that his conversation with Charles (aka mask) was edited totally out of context. Matt’s sponsorship by TAPOUT has been always been one of respect and loyalty.

Matt was promised by TAPOUT that they would produce a special edition Serra short for his upcoming championship fight. This promise was never fulfilled! The conversation that was aired without Matt’s consent had nothing to do with wanting more money nor leaving them for another sponsor. The conversation was simply about Matt wanting to know if they could get the short produced by the time of his fight with GSP. They never would follow through with the shorts they promised. This is what the “real” conversation was about and nothing else! In the end, Matt decided to go with Sprawl after they guaranteed that they would produce the shorts that he wanted for the fight. In addition, most people do not know that one of Matt’s jiu jitsu students is affiliated with the Sprawl Company and throughout Matt’s MMA career he remained with TAPOUT. He turned down several lucrative deals so that he could remain loyal to TAPOUT.

Everyone who knows Matt personally knows that he is a very loyal and honorable individual who tells it like it is! Matt is very proud to be the UFC Champion and looks forward to providing exciting fights in the future to all the MMA fans around the world!