Matt preached and preached about how the sport has evolved and the fighters are not one dimensional anymore when he fought Royce Gracie. I think he needs to take some of his own advice because it seems that he is rather one dimesional and the upcoming fighters are passing him by. Hope to see him get focused again learn some stand up skills.

It’s an obvious match-up that needs to happen. Their disdain for one another is real, unlike a lot of the contrived animosities that certain fighters who shall go unnamed like to use in an effort to remain relevant in the LHW scene. Even if there isn’t a title on the line, and most likely there won’t be, this should be an entertaining fight.

He better start getting ready then, cause GSP is gonna end it quick

Hughes your my boy kid but please just get to sparring. Do 150 rounds of it if you have to. Seeing you get whalloped is killing me !

I agree that the Hughes/Serra fight must happen. And I give it about a 70% chance of happening. Yup, I think that Serra has about a 30% chance at winning again. I assume that this is a higher percentage than what most people have. Is it? I am VERY curious to see what the odds of that fight will be.

[quote comment=”280614″]It’s an obvious match-up that needs to happen. Their disdain for one another is real, unlike a lot of the contrived animosities that certain fighters who shall go unnamed like to use in an effort to remain relevant in the LHW scene. Even if there isn’t a title on the line, and most likely there won’t be, this should be an entertaining fight.[/quote]

*cough*cough*Tito Ortiz*cough*cough

I cant wait to see Hughes CRUSH the SHIT out of Serra.

[quote comment=”280615″]He better start getting ready then, cause GSP is gonna end it quick[/quote]

Just like the last time, right?

I don’t care what anyone says Hughes will DESTROY Matt Serra. Even though Hughes was beat by a much better, much more prepared St-Pierre, I still feel Matt Hughes is in the top 3 welterweights in the world.

A living legend!

Matt Serra is a punk who does nothing but talk shit just because he had the one lucky fight of his life with GSP.

Get ready for an ass whoopin Serra.

Spell check police:

“Matt Serra, is he loses to St. Pierre at UFC 84″

should be if he loses

and

“had to withdraw because on a serious injury he”

should be of a serious.

No offense, just trying to help out.

[quote comment=”280612″]Matt preached and preached about how the sport has evolved and the fighters are not one dimensional anymore when he fought Royce Gracie. I think he needs to take some of his own advice because it seems that he is rather one dimesional and the upcoming fighters are passing him by. Hope to see him get focused again learn some stand up skills.[/quote]

I agree with this completely. You know what to expect when you fight Hughes…same as Liddell prior to his last fight. Fighters from years ago really need to change the way they approach their fights cause you see alot of them saying that they are going into each fight doing what they always do…which is usually a winning formula. The problem is that people figure them out and find ways to counter. Rampage and Jardine both figured Liddell out. He brought some new skills to the table with Silva and he looked good. Hughes needs to do the same and try and bring in some new skills or Serra will take him out cause I believe Serra has better standup than Hughes right now. Hughes is a good grappler…learn to use the clinch and throw some knees…that would throw off some opponents. Regardless…Hughes needs to improve his standup overall to be in contention again.

“”I told (UFC President) Dana (White) that I might take a little time off to see my family”"

he only fought twice in 2007! how much time you want to take off?

[quote comment=”280649″]I don’t care what anyone says Hughes will DESTROY Matt Serra. Even though Hughes was beat by a much better, much more prepared St-Pierre, I still feel Matt Hughes is in the top 3 welterweights in the world.

A living legend!

Matt Serra is a punk who does nothing but talk shit just because he had the one lucky fight of his life with GSP.

Get ready for an ass whoopin Serra.[/quote]
U SAID IT PERFECT….BUT U FORGOT TO MENTION HIS FAKEING OF A INJURY TO KEEP THAT BELT LONGER SERRA IS A PUNK LETS JUS LOOK AT THE FIGHT NIGHT FINAL VS CHRIS LYTLE MOST PEOPLE THINK LYTLE WON THAT FIGHT BUT THE JUDGES TOOK IT FROM HIM CAUSE DANA WANTED SERRA TO WIN CAUSE HE WAS THE FACE OF THAT SEASON

[quote comment=”280660″]”"I told (UFC President) Dana (White) that I might take a little time off to see my family”"

he only fought twice in 2007! how much time you want to take off?[/quote]

He was the coach on TUF…that takes a good chunk of the year. He just had a daughter in 2007.

also all the PR work with his book and the UFC and his new gym aside from last year being busy year for him. Hughes will be back strong he will take serra down and GnP him to death i wouldnt mind seeing him throw a spinning back fist and stopping serra like shonie did,Chuck should practice that punch with him. GO HUGHES!!!!!!!!

What will Matt do if Serra wins??

What if Lighting strikes twice.

How will Hughes analyize that one.

Serra/Hughes is a fight everyone was hyped to see.

UFC gave us a reason to care. Serra/Hughes gave us a reason to choose sides.

That interim crap didn’t work for Hughes. From what I heard it was Hughes idea..that he wanted to fight for a belt against GsP even though none of them had one at the time. So Dana says ” you know what Matt you’re right. Hughes/GsP 3 should be a 5 rounder..I run the UFC..so I’ll just make up this this interim stuff.

Serra was hurt for a few days berore the interim thing came out. GsP/Hughes was a number 1 contender fight flat out. GsP knew that..I wonder if Hughes would of won..how he would glamered at the fact he is the WW Champ..good thing I didn’t see that. Regardless of people’s feelings are on Serra..He is the current reconized UFC WW Champ.

[quote comment=”280672″][quote comment=”280649″]I don’t care what anyone says Hughes will DESTROY Matt Serra. Even though Hughes was beat by a much better, much more prepared St-Pierre, I still feel Matt Hughes is in the top 3 welterweights in the world.

A living legend!

Matt Serra is a punk who does nothing but talk shit just because he had the one lucky fight of his life with GSP.

Get ready for an ass whoopin Serra.[/quote]
U SAID IT PERFECT….BUT U FORGOT TO MENTION HIS FAKEING OF A INJURY TO KEEP THAT BELT LONGER SERRA IS A PUNK LETS JUS LOOK AT THE FIGHT NIGHT FINAL VS CHRIS LYTLE MOST PEOPLE THINK LYTLE WON THAT FIGHT BUT THE JUDGES TOOK IT FROM HIM CAUSE DANA WANTED SERRA TO WIN CAUSE HE WAS THE FACE OF THAT SEASON[/quote]

I totally agree. Serra is an embarrassment to the welterweight title. He’s a sniveling little punk who couldn’t beat 90% of the fighters in his division. Hughes, Fitch, Parisyan, Marcus Davis, Koschek, GSP, Thiago Alves…all of these fighters would kick his Long Island ass.
Once again, he has the luckiest fight of his life when he beat GSP. He’s a douche bag who doesn’t deserve to be champion. Can’t wait to see GSP embarrass his ass.

[quote comment=”280652″]Spell check police:

“Matt Serra, is he loses to St. Pierre at UFC 84″

should be if he loses

and

“had to withdraw because on a serious injury he”

should be of a serious.

No offense, just trying to help out.[/quote]

A one letter off typo is no big deal. I think everyone knew what the original poster’s were trying to say without getting ticketed by the spell check police…

If you really want to spend time checking for spelling errors, I have this big business review report I’ve been putting together for work. Would you mind spell checking it and checking for any possibly grammatical errors?

BTW - the corrections you made weren’t in regards to my post, but this is a MMA forum, not English 101….

But JD, there are some morons that come on and have a million mistakes in one sentence and type in all caps - THAT is annoying, and I agree…

Spell check police:

Instead of reading “IF he loses” it should read “WHEN he loses.”

Two beatings for Serra coming right up.

I don’t think Serra fake his injury, and I really think that he has a chance to win the fight against GSP, he didn’t get lucky the first fight, he was the better man. Now if Serra wins again, I think Hughes should fight Fitch or KOS, that’s only if they still on the top 10 of the division, before getting the Serra fight. And I think Matt Serra has the tools to win that fight also.

[quote comment=”280672″][quote comment=”280649″]I don’t care what anyone says Hughes will DESTROY Matt Serra. Even though Hughes was beat by a much better, much more prepared St-Pierre, I still feel Matt Hughes is in the top 3 welterweights in the world.

A living legend!

Matt Serra is a punk who does nothing but talk shit just because he had the one lucky fight of his life with GSP.

Get ready for an ass whoopin Serra.[/quote]
U SAID IT PERFECT….BUT U FORGOT TO MENTION HIS FAKEING OF A INJURY TO KEEP THAT BELT LONGER SERRA IS A PUNK LETS JUS LOOK AT THE FIGHT NIGHT FINAL VS CHRIS LYTLE MOST PEOPLE THINK LYTLE WON THAT FIGHT BUT THE JUDGES TOOK IT FROM HIM CAUSE DANA WANTED SERRA TO WIN CAUSE HE WAS THE FACE OF THAT SEASON[/quote]
And then Serra went out and got totally humiliated in that fight against GSP, proving that he didn’t belong in there in the first place. By the way, if you ever suffer a ruptured disc and know what it feels like, then you can have a little perspective on whether or not he was faking. By the way again, STOP SHOUTING!!!

I guess Dana has told Hughes that he won’t get a title fight against Serra, which makes sense. If Hughes still wants to go after the title, he needs to go through at least one of Kos, Fitch, Karo, or Diego. Not that I need any more reason to cheer for GSP, but I’d love to see the two Matt’s fight. I’d also love to see a Hughes-BJ III. I think Hughes can retire after those two fights, no matter the results.

I figured this matcup would happen. You know they’re going to promote the hell out of it, too. I’m a sucker, so the buildup will definitely get me excited for the fight. I’m sure I’d watch it anyway, though.

[quote comment=”280718″]What will Matt do if Serra wins??

What if Lighting strikes twice.

How will Hughes analyize that one.

Serra/Hughes is a fight everyone was hyped to see.

[/quote]

If Serra shocks the world again, I’m thinking Matt Hughes’ next fight will be Koscheck. If not Koscheck, probably Diego. I know Diego’s been asking for that fight for a long time. They’re both marketable fights.

But who knows, maybe by that point BJ will have convinced Dana to give him the Hughes fight earlier than we expected.

Hope Matt Serra rips his arm off via Omo Plata. ALl these haters need to recognize that Matt Serra is the welterweight champion of the world. Beating GSP is a big DEAL just ask:
Karo
Sherk
Hughes
Meyham
Trigg
BJ PEnn

I dont like to see Matt serra being trashed like this. He TOOK the belt from the former champion GSP.
IF GSP can respect and recognize him as champ, then maybe we should!

“I just didn’t go out there and do the things we worked on. I was SCARED 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 SCARED, so that’s on me, not on anybody else. SUPER !!

I wish Hughes would have been ready to fight Fitch at 82.

I hope gsp destroys serra come ufc 84, and serra gets to fight hughes and then to have hughes destoy serra, that would make my year. I don’t dislike serra, I just like hughes and gsp much more, gsp was humiliated by serra, hughes was humiliated by gsp, it would make everything right in my mind. I really don’t want Hughes to leave his stellar career like this, crushing serra would be a nice end. Serra beat gsp fair and square, there should be no excuses, excuses are for the lame, but if gsp is prepared like he was at ufc 79 I predict he’ll finish serra in devastating fashion. Gsp has the habit of paying back those who cause him grief and serra caused him more grief than anyone, so expect serra to get a severe pummeling this time, no friend BS, just business.

The odds on a GSP-Serra rematch would probably very close to the first fight, no? So the story goes GSP’s head wasn’t in the first fight and everyone is expecting him to get his revenge. GSP is coming off the epitome of domination while Serra is recovering form injury. Even with the image of Serra beating GSP in everyone’s mind GSP should be a heavy favorite again and the odds should be comparable to the first fight I have to think. If not I’m happy putting that much more on GSP.

Of course if GSP defeats Serra will Joe Silva ever have an easier decision than lining up a Serra-Hughes fight? That’s like having the wherewithal to put Randy and Fedor together in a blockbuster title fight…

The only way in my mind for serra to win again is if gsp loses his mind, and underestimates serra and insists on fighting in the pocket all night. If he mixes things up and is unpredictable, uses his reach and stays away from the pocket, he has a very good chance of winning. I believe gsp’s weakest area is in the pocket, he showed this against penn and serra, he has long arms and should pick serra apart from long range and not let him get inside. Serra to me is very underestimated in the pocket, he has short powerful arms and its much easier for him to swing in close than for gsp. I actually think his striking is better than most give him credit and his ground game is overrated…in an MMA sense. When was the last time he submitted anyone? Gsp really should take him down and ground and pound serra, tiring him out, instead of trading punches all night. I predict gsp was beat serra this time around convincingly, hughes will fight serra and also beat him but not convincingly, we’ll see what happens.

[quote comment=”280855″]Hope Matt Serra rips his arm off via Omo Plata. ALl these haters need to recognize that Matt Serra is the welterweight champion of the world. Beating GSP is a big DEAL just ask:
Karo
Sherk
Hughes
Meyham
Trigg
BJ PEnn

I dont like to see Matt serra being trashed like this. He TOOK the belt from the former champion GSP.
IF GSP can respect and recognize him as champ, then maybe we should![/quote]

enough said.

[quote comment=”280855″]Hope Matt Serra rips his arm off via Omo Plata. ALl these haters need to recognize that Matt Serra is the welterweight champion of the world. Beating GSP is a big DEAL just ask:
Karo
Sherk
Hughes
Meyham
Trigg
BJ PEnn

I dont like to see Matt serra being trashed like this. He TOOK the belt from the former champion GSP.
IF GSP can respect and recognize him as champ, then maybe we should![/quote]

I agree with the last part, serra is the real champ he beat gsp fair and square and should be recognized as champ. But don’t think serra will submit gsp or hughes, last time serra submitted anyone in an mma fight was march 2002, against a nobody. Serra is excellent at bjj, but this is MMA and I would be shocked if serra subs either gsp or hughes.

i hope Serra beats GSP again then there will be no Serra vs Hughes.the only thing that worries me is Serra is comming off a bad injury and hasnt fought in almost a year. might be a little rusty. im telling you all if it GSP tries to stand and trade with Serra, same out come.just hope Serra is in shape and 100% healthy not thinking the fight will turn out the same as last time.as much as i dont like GSP, he is dangerous and hope serra is in shape and ready. WAR SERRA WAR!!!!!!

Serra’s days as champ are numbered. Serra matches up well with GSP, but even if he beats GSP again, I don’t think Serra can beat the other top WW’s. Hughes and Fitch would cream Serra. Serra already lost to a 22-year old Karo. Serra can MAYBE beat Kos, and maybe Diego. A fight I’d like to see though is Serra and Sherk. Both guys have fought in LW and WW, with Sherk moving down in weight, and Serra moving up. Serra has said he can’t make 155 anymore, but I don’t think Sherk would have a problem moving up in weight.

This is good news. Serra has two beatings coming to him, and he knows it. GSP wil finish him in round 1 via strikes. Then Hughes will throw him around for three rounds and ground and pound hi. I wouldn’t be surprised if Serra ducks Hughes.

If anyone thinks Tito is the biggest $hit talker in the UFC, they are wrong, it’s Matt Hughes. Not only is he a $hit talker, but he is extremely cocky..

i think this is great news! i want to see this fight

[quote comment=”280944″]Serra’s days as champ are numbered. Serra matches up well with GSP, but even if he beats GSP again, I don’t think Serra can beat the other top WW’s. Hughes and Fitch would cream Serra. Serra already lost to a 22-year old Karo. Serra can MAYBE beat Kos, and maybe Diego. A fight I’d like to see though is Serra and Sherk. Both guys have fought in LW and WW, with Sherk moving down in weight, and Serra moving up. Serra has said he can’t make 155 anymore, but I don’t think Sherk would have a problem moving up in weight.[/quote]

I don’t mean to disrespect serra but I’m not impressed with him as a fighter, nice guy but so so fighter. Anyone of the top 10 in the welter weight division could beat any 10 ten at least once, I know this and I’m not impressed with serra’s one impressive win. I honestly feel if serra fought all the top ten guys 10 times he loses more than he wins, just going by his last 5 fights. Gsp’s next fight with serra is going to be SOOOOO different, you can count on it. IF serra beats gsp, beats fitch and hughes, then I’ll take back what I said and rank him as the best welter weight in the world but until then I stand by my opinion of him.

Im glad that we will see him back in the cage, i think he still has a hell of a lot to offer mma and the ufc. Yes he was dominated by gsp and in my opinion would get owned by Penn also. However he is still a force and whats to say he cant evolve a little and add some skills, ie.. stand up.
He will demolish serra after gsp is finished with him!!
Id love to see these fights in the future

1. penn v gsp AGAIN
2. penn v anderson silva
3. gsp v anderson silva
4. coutoure v rampage
5. liddell v henderson

but to name a few!! what do you think????????????????

Serra is the only current welterweight that Hughes could beat. I think he looses to Fitch, Kos, Penn and Karo. The Serra Hughes fight will happen and it will not be one-sided.

[quote comment=”280936″][quote comment=”280855″]Hope Matt Serra rips his arm off via Omo Plata. ALl these haters need to recognize that Matt Serra is the welterweight champion of the world. Beating GSP is a big DEAL just ask:
Karo
Sherk
Hughes
Meyham
Trigg
BJ PEnn

I dont like to see Matt serra being trashed like this. He TOOK the belt from the former champion GSP.
IF GSP can respect and recognize him as champ, then maybe we should![/quote]

I agree with the last part, serra is the real champ he beat gsp fair and square and should be recognized as champ. But don’t think serra will submit gsp or hughes, last time serra submitted anyone in an mma fight was march 2002, against a nobody. Serra is excellent at bjj, but this is MMA and I would be shocked if serra subs either gsp or hughes.[/quote]

I never claimed that he would submit either. I doubt he will beat GSP, but if you were to tell me that he wouls submit one of the 2, I would say he submits Hughes. I dont give Serra much of a chance against GSP. Would Hughes be the favorite in their fighht? Absolutely. but I wouldn’t be surprised if Serra were to win. Serra has got Heavy hands and Hughes is pathetic standing up. Once the fight hits the ground, I would still give Hughes the advantage, but Serra is in his element also so
I do think that he could catch Hughes in a submission. Once again, Hughes would clearly be the favorite going into the fight. My point is that bigger upsets have happened IMO then Serra beating Hughes. As a betting man, I will throw a low amount of money on Serra, not cause I think he will win, but because the odds will be really big in my favor, and I do think that Serra could pull it off. Will I expect to win that bet…NOT at all. But it does have good value

[quote comment=”280969″]If anyone thinks Tito is the biggest $hit talker in the UFC, they are wrong, it’s Matt Hughes. Not only is he a $hit talker, but he is extremely cocky..[/quote]

I agree with that. I cant stand Hughes as a person. He wants to claim to be holy but I dont think he conducts himself as a classy person at all. As a coach on the Ultimate fighter, he sacrafices too many of his fighters. He uses the lower level ones like pawns and I think that it sucks. He is messing with peoples careers. Serra is competitive but he doesn’t do that to any of his fighters. He puts the lower level fighters against other lower level fighters and coaches them up. I respect him so much for that. Hughes just doesn’t get it. His head is too big and the worst part is he tries to hide it behind that farmboy crap. I think he is flooding with arrogance and is real cocky, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching GSP throwing him around the cage like a rag doll.

[quote comment=”281139″]Im glad that we will see him back in the cage, i think he still has a hell of a lot to offer mma and the ufc. Yes he was dominated by gsp and in my opinion would get owned by Penn also. However he is still a force and whats to say he cant evolve a little and add some skills, ie.. stand up.
He will demolish serra after gsp is finished with him!!
Id love to see these fights in the future

1. penn v gsp AGAIN
2. penn v anderson silva
3. gsp v anderson silva
4. coutoure v rampage
5. liddell v henderson

but to name a few!! what do you think????????????????[/quote]
and Houston vs W Silva, Thiago Silva vs Machida? Jardine vs Forest 2? so many possibilities

Can we look at Matt Hughes last 5 fights in reverse order.

5) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds

4) Win: He won be decision over a non-contender (Lytle)

3) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds and KO’d

2) Win: Beat an injured Penn after being dominated for 2
rounds and almost submitted twice.

1) Win: Dominated a 39 yr old Royce who had only fought
3 times in the prior 6 years.

The conclusion I draw is Hughes is no longer a top WW fighter and he will be embarrassed if he fights anyone other than Serra.

GsP will easily beat Serra. A very lop-sided event, finishes in TKO GsP. What I don’t understand is how is Serra ranked so highly in MMA ranks? According to that logic, if you or I was granted a title shot for some strange reason and luckily KO’d Rampage (of course on the worst night of his life), would you or I be considered #1 in the world in the ranks? Other than his fluke KO of the Champ, because of a reality show, what has Serra done, and who has he beaten to deserve this rank?

[quote comment=”281181″][quote comment=”280969″]If anyone thinks Tito is the biggest $hit talker in the UFC, they are wrong, it’s Matt Hughes. Not only is he a $hit talker, but he is extremely cocky..[/quote]

I agree with that. I cant stand Hughes as a person. He wants to claim to be holy but I dont think he conducts himself as a classy person at all. As a coach on the Ultimate fighter, he sacrafices too many of his fighters. He uses the lower level ones like pawns and I think that it sucks. He is messing with peoples careers. Serra is competitive but he doesn’t do that to any of his fighters. He puts the lower level fighters against other lower level fighters and coaches them up. I respect him so much for that. Hughes just doesn’t get it. His head is too big and the worst part is he tries to hide it behind that farmboy crap. I think he is flooding with arrogance and is real cocky, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching GSP throwing him around the cage like a rag doll.[/quote]
Well said John. And I agree 100%. It’s a proven fact that whipping your students, or trainees and using these style of training tactics is NOT as effective as a more humble, patient and two-sided tactics. Serra has a far better clue for training. The rough-neck, hillbilly balls-to-the-wall style doesn’t work for everyone. What people seem to forget is that learning/teaching and communicating is a two-sided task. When you are talking, someone has to be listening, and vice-versa. Memo to Hughes: You don’t know everything, try using your ears more. Reciprocation is key to learning ANYTHING.

GodDammMike,

While I generally agree that Serra does not deserve this #1, the reality is that when you beat a champ that is the consensus #1 in the weight class, you become the #1 fighter in the rankings. So take that fight with Rampage and be #1.

[quote comment=”280737″][quote comment=”280652″]Spell check police:

“Matt Serra, is he loses to St. Pierre at UFC 84″

should be if he loses

and

“had to withdraw because on a serious injury he”

should be of a serious.

No offense, just trying to help out.[/quote]

A one letter off typo is no big deal. I think everyone knew what the original poster’s were trying to say without getting ticketed by the spell check police…

If you really want to spend time checking for spelling errors, I have this big business review report I’ve been putting together for work. Would you mind spell checking it and checking for any possibly grammatical errors?

BTW - the corrections you made weren’t in regards to my post, but this is a MMA forum, not English 101….[/quote]

haha lol..

spell check police??? now thats funny shit!

—-As a betting man, I will throw a low amount of money on Serra, not cause I think he will win, but because the odds will be really big in my favor, and I do think that Serra could pull it off. Will I expect to win that bet…NOT at all. But it does have good value=====

You make an excellent point. I’d call this calculated risk.
I want Serra to lose, but again you make a good point John.

I read Matt Hughes book last week while i was on the subway, morning and night. To be honest it slightly changed my opinion of the man. He is just Ultra competitive. Thats what everyone dislikes about him mistaking it for being a dick. Simply, Hughes craves winning, and loathes defeat.
Theres things i don’t like about his personality the same way there’s things about mine that he wouldn’t.
At the root of the man is a great deal of compassion for others. How my opinion changed is that I hated him on TUF as a coach, especially this last season. But after reading his book a lot of his choices made sense to me, better understanding his reasoning. The man has been a life long champion Division I All American twice… and has made good money making a living doing what he obviously loves.

I can’t critique somebody that does it better then almost everybody. The real measuring stick here is to see whether or not Hughes Intensive training produces any talent.

Im neither here nor there with with Matt Serra… he’s funny, but it gets old.

GSP and Fitch are my Favs at 170.. so i didn’t hate seeing Hughes lose to a more talented fighter. The torch has been passed. Oh Canada…GSP and COTE COTE COTE COTE!!!

[quote comment=”281171″]Serra is the only current welterweight that Hughes could beat. I think he looses to Fitch, Kos, Penn and Karo. The Serra Hughes fight will happen and it will not be one-sided.[/quote]

I think Hughes decisions Koscheck. One guy you didn’t mention, but I think Hughes could also beat is Diego.

[quote comment=”281181″][quote comment=”280969″]If anyone thinks Tito is the biggest $hit talker in the UFC, they are wrong, it’s Matt Hughes. Not only is he a $hit talker, but he is extremely cocky..[/quote]

I agree with that. I cant stand Hughes as a person. He wants to claim to be holy but I dont think he conducts himself as a classy person at all. As a coach on the Ultimate fighter, he sacrafices too many of his fighters. He uses the lower level ones like pawns and I think that it sucks. He is messing with peoples careers. Serra is competitive but he doesn’t do that to any of his fighters. He puts the lower level fighters against other lower level fighters and coaches them up. I respect him so much for that. Hughes just doesn’t get it. His head is too big and the worst part is he tries to hide it behind that farmboy crap. I think he is flooding with arrogance and is real cocky, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching GSP throwing him around the cage like a rag doll.[/quote]

Yup. I don’t know how he still remainds friends with Robbie.

[quote comment=”281422″][quote comment=”281171″]Serra is the only current welterweight that Hughes could beat. I think he looses to Fitch, Kos, Penn and Karo. The Serra Hughes fight will happen and it will not be one-sided.[/quote]

I think Hughes decisions Koscheck. One guy you didn’t mention, but I think Hughes could also beat is Diego.[/quote]
I’m not really a fan of Hughes, but until someone beats him that’s not named Georges I don’t see how you could be so sure he would lose to all these guys. Take GSP out of the picture and Hughes hasn’t lost in years.

In all likelihood St Pierre will win over Serra this time but jeez, he was so heavily favored last time. If he were to get caught AGAIN… that would be Serra 2-0 lifetime and that means no third bout. GSP would have to wait for Serra to lose and/or retire to get a shot at the belt.

I would like to see Hughes against Koscheck just for the grappler vs. grappler matchup. GSP dominated really both guys though. There’s your current best grappler.

[quote comment=”281688″]In all likelihood St Pierre will win over Serra this time but jeez, he was so heavily favored last time. If he were to get caught AGAIN… that would be Serra 2-0 lifetime and that means no third bout. GSP would have to wait for Serra to lose and/or retire to get a shot at the belt.[/quote]

You’d think so, but remember that we had to see Shamrock get his ass beat by Ortiz 3 times.

[quote comment=”281203″]Can we look at Matt Hughes last 5 fights in reverse order.

5) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds

4) Win: He won be decision over a non-contender (Lytle)

3) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds and KO’d

2) Win: Beat an injured Penn after being dominated for 2
rounds and almost submitted twice.

1) Win: Dominated a 39 yr old Royce who had only fought
3 times in the prior 6 years.

The conclusion I draw is Hughes is no longer a top WW fighter and he will be embarrassed if he fights anyone other than Serra.[/quote]

I agree that he hasnt done anything in his last 2 years,and thaht he will have a hard time against any top WW including Serra

MATT….you wont run a clothing line like team punishment….now you wanna follow titos money line. starting a new gym wont help your sorry a$$ but in all honesty i think you will beat serra because he is a bum a$$ fighter

[quote comment=”281217″]GsP will easily beat Serra. A very lop-sided event, finishes in TKO GsP.

What I don’t understand is how is Serra ranked so highly in MMA ranks? According to that logic, if you or I was granted a title shot for some strange reason and luckily KO’d Rampage (of course on the worst night of his life), would you or I be considered #1 in the world in the ranks? Other than his fluke KO of the Champ, because of a reality show, what has Serra done, and who has he beaten to deserve this rank?[/quote]
LOL totally agree, I’ve said this before, but have been attacked by serra fans. Serra being ranked number 2 is ridiculous, it is just like if I somehow got a shot at the title, KO’ed the champ because 1. he underestimated me 2. I got in a lucky punch 3. had the worst night(performance of his life) and now I’m number one LOL, thats crazy. No way in hell could serra beat the guys gsp beat to get the title shot, the tuff show thing is a joke. Serra did rise to the occasion and he beat gsp fair and square but he only has 1 tko in his career, he has to do a lot more than that before I’m jumping on the serra bandwagon. What I don’t understand is why the hell was serra number 1 ahead of gsp for so long and forrest was way below shogun in rankings and forrest dominated shogun the entire fight? I really don’t get it, on paper at least to me the gsp/serra fight was a total fluke, and I have seen the gsp/serra fight several times and I don’t see domination at all until gsp got rocked…I thought it was pretty even until gsp got rocked with the first punch. Serra does clock him good 2 or 3 more times but gsp’s already f**ked up after the first hit, and wasn’t defending himself…he had his hands down. Any top ten would have destroyed gsp after the first hit, his equalibrium was f**ked up. I can’t see serra beating hughes,fitch,sanchez,koscheck or karo, guys all below serra and seriously wonder how they rationalize putting serra ahead of these guys.

[quote comment=”281281″]—-As a betting man, I will throw a low amount of money on Serra, not cause I think he will win, but because the odds will be really big in my favor, and I do think that Serra could pull it off. Will I expect to win that bet…NOT at all. But it does have good value=====

You make an excellent point. I’d call this calculated risk.
I want Serra to lose, but again you make a good point John.

I read Matt Hughes book last week while i was on the subway, morning and night. To be honest it slightly changed my opinion of the man. He is just Ultra competitive. Thats what everyone dislikes about him mistaking it for being a dick. Simply, Hughes craves winning, and loathes defeat.
Theres things i don’t like about his personality the same way there’s things about mine that he wouldn’t.
At the root of the man is a great deal of compassion for others. How my opinion changed is that I hated him on TUF as a coach, especially this last season. But after reading his book a lot of his choices made sense to me, better understanding his reasoning.

The man has been a life long champion Division I All American twice… and has made good money making a living doing what he obviously loves.

I can’t critique somebody that does it better then almost everybody. The real measuring stick here is to see whether or not Hughes Intensive training produces any talent.

Im neither here nor there with with Matt Serra… he’s funny, but it gets old.

GSP and Fitch are my Favs at 170.. so i didn’t hate seeing Hughes lose to a more talented fighter. The torch has been passed. Oh Canada…GSP and COTE COTE COTE COTE!!![/quote]
Well said, you make some good points, its easy to pick someone apart you don’t really know or understand, as I also feel hughes is largely misunderstood. He definitely lacks social skills but in my mind I feel he’s a decent guy deep down, but could use a good helping of diplomacy in his personality. I’ve seen too many people in my life who are smooth on the surface but and bad deep down with no character , Hughes has character for sure he’s just not smooth.

Don’t get me wrong, I think serra is a good guy, and he’s had the shaft and bad luck too many times, winning the tuff show and beating gsp was a godsend, it gives him a lot of exposure for his schools…good for him. The problem I have is his fans claiming he’s the best welter weight now because of ONE fight, give me a break, I could understand the argument for giving serra a ranking of maybe 8 or 9 but 1 or 2 ya right please. I’ve alway looked at the fighters last 5 fights to evaluate how good of a fighter he is, one impressive win isn’t enough.

[quote comment=”282003″]Don’t get me wrong, I think serra is a good guy, and he’s had the shaft and bad luck too many times, winning the tuff show and beating gsp was a godsend, it gives him a lot of exposure for his schools…good for him. The problem I have is his fans claiming he’s the best welter weight now because of ONE fight, give me a break, I could understand the argument for giving serra a ranking of maybe 8 or 9 but 1 or 2 ya right please. I’ve alway looked at the fighters last 5 fights to evaluate how good of a fighter he is, one impressive win isn’t enough.[/quote]

I agree. Champion, but not the best.

[quote comment=”281825″][quote comment=”281203″]Can we look at Matt Hughes last 5 fights in reverse order.

5) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds

4) Win: He won be decision over a non-contender (Lytle)

3) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds and KO’d

2) Win: Beat an injured Penn after being dominated for 2
rounds and almost submitted twice.

1) Win: Dominated a 39 yr old Royce who had only fought
3 times in the prior 6 years.

The conclusion I draw is Hughes is no longer a top WW fighter and he will be embarrassed if he fights anyone other than Serra.[/quote]

I agree that he hasnt done anything in his last 2 years,and thaht he will have a hard time against any top WW including Serra[/quote]

Seriously guys? I only see 2 losses, and both of them are to GSP, arguably one of the top 3 p4p fighters in the world. That doesn’t discredit you as a top fighter. If a football team was undefeated for a long while, severely beating every opponent they faced, but lost to the Patriots twice in their last 3 games, would you consider them a bad team?

I think the bookies would correctly make him the favorite against any fighter not named Penn or St. Pierre.

quick question. can anyone tell me how serra even got the title shot in the first place?

[quote comment=”281825″][quote comment=”281203″]Can we look at Matt Hughes last 5 fights in reverse order.

5) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds

4) Win: He won be decision over a non-contender (Lytle)

3) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds and KO’d

2) Win: Beat an injured Penn after being dominated for 2
rounds and almost submitted twice.

1) Win: Dominated a 39 yr old Royce who had only fought
3 times in the prior 6 years.

The conclusion I draw is Hughes is no longer a top WW fighter and he will be embarrassed if he fights anyone other than Serra.[/quote]

I agree that he hasnt done anything in his last 2 years,and thaht he will have a hard time against any top WW including Serra[/quote]
Or you could look at it like:
1) Who doesn’t get dominated by GSP?
2) Who has finished Lytle?
3) Beat Penn because he BURNT his legs out (no matter what other excuses) watch the fight again, ribs have nothing to do with the fact that his legs were DONE.
4) He didn’t just beat Hoist, He dominated him.
5) No matter how you look at it, he only lost to gsp as of late.
I’m not saying Hughes will beat anyone except GSP, but he is still a threat to the WW div.

[quote comment=”282512″]quick question. can anyone tell me how serra even got the title shot in the first place?[/quote]
He pulled it out of a cracker jacks box.

[quote comment=”282541″][quote comment=”282512″]quick question. can anyone tell me how serra even got the title shot in the first place?[/quote]
He pulled it out of a cracker jacks box.[/quote]

thanks was, hoping for a little more insight than that

[quote comment=”282547″][quote comment=”282541″][quote comment=”282512″]quick question. can anyone tell me how serra even got the title shot in the first place?[/quote]
He pulled it out of a cracker jacks box.[/quote]

thanks was, hoping for a little more insight than that[/quote]
Sorry, I thought that was a retorical question. The way he got it (although not deserved) was ,he won the Tuf finaly against Chris Lytle. Dana didn’t see the problem with giving the winner a FREEBEE, I mean title shot.

[quote comment=”282538″][quote comment=”281825″][quote comment=”281203″]Can we look at Matt Hughes last 5 fights in reverse order.

5) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds

4) Win: He won be decision over a non-contender (Lytle)

3) Loss: Totally dominated by GSP for 2 rouunds and KO’d

2) Win: Beat an injured Penn after being dominated for 2
rounds and almost submitted twice.

1) Win: Dominated a 39 yr old Royce who had only fought
3 times in the prior 6 years.

The conclusion I draw is Hughes is no longer a top WW fighter and he will be embarrassed if he fights anyone other than Serra.[/quote]

I agree that he hasnt done anything in his last 2 years,and thaht he will have a hard time against any top WW including Serra[/quote]
Or you could look at it like:
1) Who doesn’t get dominated by GSP?
2) Who has finished Lytle?
3) Beat Penn because he BURNT his legs out (no matter what other excuses) watch the fight again, ribs have nothing to do with the fact that his legs were DONE.
4) He didn’t just beat Hoist, He dominated him.
5) No matter how you look at it, he only lost to gsp as of late.
I’m not saying Hughes will beat anyone except GSP, but he is still a threat to the WW div.[/quote]

Im guessing your a hughes fan.
1) who doesn’t get dominated by gsp? bj penn, and matt serra didnt
2) lytle is a tuff guy and matt only won couse he took him down and just held him there, he couldnt stand with him at all
3) he got dominated for 2 rounds and he was lucky bj penn wasn’t in shape. if they fought now bj would destroy him.
4) hoyce is not a fighter anymore and the sport has evolved, do you think matt highes is the only guy that could have done that to him? half of the division could.
5) he beat gsp in 2004 thats almost 4 years ago. hes proved hes not a top level fighter anymore. and gsp has proved he is

and i dont think he can beat matt serra

[quote comment=”282003″]Don’t get me wrong, I think serra is a good guy, and he’s had the shaft and bad luck too many times, winning the tuff show and beating gsp was a godsend, it gives him a lot of exposure for his schools…good for him. The problem I have is his fans claiming he’s the best welter weight now because of ONE fight, give me a break, I could understand the argument for giving serra a ranking of maybe 8 or 9 but 1 or 2 ya right please. I’ve alway looked at the fighters last 5 fights to evaluate how good of a fighter he is, one impressive win isn’t enough.[/quote]

Nathan: I respect your posts and oppinions a lot. You are one of the few bloggers who’s posts I look for. Keep it up. AS for Serra I respect him a lot as a coach and as a fighters. HE is undoubtably the UFC welterweight champion!!!! Is he the best WW in the world? No, but he is a very skilled fighter.

When I come up with my own rankings, I dont ever include the current champion. Anything can happen in a title fight. The champions should all be excluded from the rankings. But after Serra looses his title, I will rank him in the lower part of the top 10…somewhere between 7-10. I still think that he could compete with many of the top welterweights. I would give Serra a good shot at beating:
Hughes
Karo (he was very close to finishing Karo a few years back)
Diego….I think his ju jitsu is better then Diego’s and their striking is equal. Diego’s ground n pound is better.

But NO, he isnt the best welterweight in the world. For now he is the champion, and we have to respect that.

Now I want to discuss Matt Hughes….The coach.
Personally, I feel that Matt Hughes and Ken Shamrock were the 2 worst coaches ever to appear on TUF show.

If I were on that show, I would do anything in my power not to be coached by Hughes…heres why:

As coaches, they all take Pride and want to win the show, but their main objective should be the FIGHTERS competing on the show, instead of their Ego’s. As A coach Hughe’s only cares about the top 4 fighters on his team. When it is time for his worse fighters to compete. He matches them up against the other teams best fighters, sacrfaciing them, so that the other teams top fighter doesn’t take out his better fighters. Is that right? Hell no! He uses to many of his fighters as pawns to be sacraficed.

When its Serra’s turn to pick the match ups, instead of matching up his strongest against Hughe’s weakest, he matches up his weakest againt the other teams weakest fighters, actually giving his lessor fights a chance to continue. He could easily match up his Best against Hughe’s weakest but he doesnt. Why? Because he realizes that this show is really about the future and careers of the young fighters on the TUF show. He treats his worst fighters the same as his best fighters and I really respect that.

You know how many times I heard Hughes say on the show that: “I never lost a fight that I didnt want to loose”. Is that right? What a jerk, these are young fighters careers that he is toying with and I think it SUCKS! I hope to never see him as a coach on that show again!!!

[quote comment=”282913″]Now I want to discuss Matt Hughes….The coach.
Personally, I feel that Matt Hughes and Ken Shamrock were the 2 worst coaches ever to appear on TUF show.

If I were on that show, I would do anything in my power not to be coached by Hughes…heres why:

As coaches, they all take Pride and want to win the show, but their main objective should be the FIGHTERS competing on the show, instead of their Ego’s. As A coach Hughe’s only cares about the top 4 fighters on his team. When it is time for his worse fighters to compete. He matches them up against the other teams best fighters, sacrfaciing them, so that the other teams top fighter doesn’t take out his better fighters. Is that right? Hell no! He uses to many of his fighters as pawns to be sacraficed.

When its Serra’s turn to pick the match ups, instead of matching up his strongest against Hughe’s weakest, he matches up his weakest againt the other teams weakest fighters, actually giving his lessor fights a chance to continue. He could easily match up his Best against Hughe’s weakest but he doesnt. Why? Because he realizes that this show is really about the future and careers of the young fighters on the TUF show. He treats his worst fighters the same as his best fighters and I really respect that.

You know how many times I heard Hughes say on the show that: “I never lost a fight that I didnt want to loose”. Is that right? What a jerk, these are young fighters careers that he is toying with and I think it SUCKS! I hope to never see him as a coach on that show again!!![/quote]

i agree w/most of this about hughes and serra as coaches. and i’m from l.i. so i was a little biased towards serra. but towards the end of the show when his teammates had to fight against each other i really didn’t like his decision not to corner them. i thought that was wrong. he should have taught them both or stayed out of the gym completely (when troy and the other guy fought, forget his name.) and i think hughes was just much more professional about that whole situation. as much as i don’t like hughes i think he was right in that instance. when it comes down to it there really are no teams, everyone wants to win for themselves. so i did lose a good amount of respect for serra after he chose not to corner either of his guys.

[quote comment=”280612″]Matt preached and preached about how the sport has evolved and the fighters are not one dimensional anymore when he fought Royce Gracie. I think he needs to take some of his own advice because it seems that he is rather one dimesional and the upcoming fighters are passing him by. Hope to see him get focused again learn some stand up skills.[/quote]

Thats kinda of true, but a great wrestler can usually take the fight where they want it. In this case he got out wrestled by gsp and over powered. Great stand-up wouldn’t have helped him in his last fight.

all of yall talking that sh2T ABOUT matt hughes he is the only ww to hold the belt for so long gsp won the title then lost it the next fight he dont no if he is coming or going he is the sh@test fighter i think and serra will beat him agian becuase he is gun shy you seen that agianst hughes and he bearly bet kos you aint that good ofa fighter just a grappler so every one has there thought but aint none of them held the belt like hughes has so dont put him down until one of them does then i will say there a better fighter them him

[quote comment=”280660″]”"I told (UFC President) Dana (White) that I might take a little time off to see my family”"

he only fought twice in 2007! how much time you want to take off?[/quote]

Nobody shuld criticize a guy for wanting to spend time with his family. I know Matt and he is a very family oriented guy and that makes m an even greater champ.

Serra sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!Hughes is gonna DESTROY serra