Matt Serra won't get the kind of love from the crowd in Montreal as he did in Las Vegas when he shocked Georges St-Pierre in their first bout. Photo Courtesy: Zuffa, LLC
Matt Serra is getting screwed by the UFC
I can’t believe I’m about to do this but I feel the need to defend Matt Serra. If you’ve read my blog with any regularity, you know Matt Serra is about my least favorite person in the UFC. Serra was set to defend his Welterweight Championship against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 before he herniated two discs in his back. Georges St-Pierre took Serra’s spot and dominated Matt Hughes to pull out a victory via an armbar submission to become the Interim Welterweight Champion.
Serra and St-Pierre will now meet to determine the Undisputed Welterweight Champion at UFC 83 on April 19th., in Montreal, Canada. Serra, who has yet to lose his title, has to go into St-Pierre’s backyard and face GSP in front of his home crowd. This isn’t the first time the UFC has put their reigning champion into such a predicament. Anderson Silva had to fight Rich Franklin in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Silva defeated Franklin quite easily and has become the most dominant champion in the UFC.
Many critics, me included, believe that Serra got lucky the last time he fought St-Pierre. Frankly, I don’t even think Serra is one of the top five fighters in the entire division.
Ok, ok, ok, I’m done bashing on Serra…for the moment. I do think it’s a bit of a joke to make the champion go fight in the hometown on his challenger. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but St-Pierre is a strong enough competitor that he doesn’t need any more of an advantage to beat Serra.
So what’s my solution? Put the big fights in the big fight city: Las Vegas. The UFC is now branching out enough to have several pay-per-views away from Sin City. New York City, Chicago, and Detroit should all be hosting UFC events in the next year. The championship fights are always special, so keep them in Las Vegas.
I know Dana White has been trying to get a pay-per-view in Montreal for several months now. The Serra-St-Pierre fight is just the wrong fight to headline it.
This entry was posted
on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Dana White, Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Georges St-Pierre, Matt Serra, Pay-Per-View, Matt Hughes, UFC.
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5 Responses to “Matt Serra is getting screwed by the UFC”
February 12th, 2008 at 5:03 am
Go Matt Serra!! The ultimate underdog will shock the world again.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Holding this fight “St Pierre vs Serra” is the most exciting UFC event for Canadian fans….. and trust me Canadian MMA fans make up a large percent of the total.
If the first UFC in Canada event, especially in Montreal didn’t include GSP it would be a huge dissapointment.
Dana White Knows what he’s doing look at how they have transformed UFC in the last few years…or….
But maybe I’m just too excited to have my tickets for UFC 83…
February 28th, 2008 at 4:38 am
You are aware that Montreal has a population of 3.6 million people right? It is not a small city by any stretch of the imagination. Plus, the card there was the “fastest sellout in UFC history”. Cleary they deserve a UFC event and they definitly deserve to see their boy fight for a championship.
March 6th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
There are a few things to be said about this. First of all, I agree that it wouldn’t make much business sense to have the first Canadian event without Canadian fighters. Particularly their golden boy. Tickets aren’t cheap, fans might not be as willing to shell out the cash for somebody from, say, Oklahoma.
This could also very well be a double edged sword for GSP. The support from the hometown crowd is great, but isn’t it also a lot of pressure? GSP has struggled in the past with his mental game, so this could present an obstacle for him. I imagine he’s thankful he didn’t lose to Serra the first go round in his backyard. It would’ve been devastating. Conversely, if Mr. Smacktalk Serra is as good as he thinks he is, a win in Canada will be even sweeter. While I agree that it ups the anty on this fight by holding it in Montreal, I don’t believe it a bit unfair to either side.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
MATT SERRA IS THE MAN
If georges lands that punch –it was what was expected
but serra did –and now that same punch is luck…NOPE
frenchie has a glass chin…now he is afraid to stand up…take it to the ground against the fastest american gracie jui-jitsu black belt…WHAT DO YOU HAVE FRENCHIE
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