Beyond the Fight 04.18.08: Anatomy of an Upset Pt. II
Posted by Sergio G. Hernandez on 04.18.2008
UFC's self-described Rocky Balboa takes the spotlight in this week's BTF. I take a look at Matt Serra's unlikely road to welterweight gold and his rematch with GSP tomorrow night at UFC 83. Can lightning strike twice?
Tomorrow is the big day.
Fluke or destiny, right?
Last week I covered UFC 83's main event from the angle of the challenger, Georges St. Pierre. I discussed his rise to welterweight prominence including his battles against Matt Hughes. I also discussed his shocking loss to what many considered a "B-level" fighter and GSP's trek back up the 170 pound mountain.
But what about that "B-level" fighter? How did he get a title shot in what is arguably the most stacked division in MMA?
How did Matt Serra go from almost being bounced from the UFC to a title shot, a slot coaching on The Ultimate Fighter, and headlining what will likely be UFC's most lucrative event in 2008?
Serra has been in the UFC since right around the turn of the century. In fact, his debut was what he was most well-known for up until his upset victory over St. Pierre: a spinning backfist knockout at the hands of Shonie Carter. This highlight reel KO was almost Matt Serra's lasting legacy. Weird, eh?
Serra bounced back with two victories, one of which was the always-game Yves Edwards, and landed himself in the four-man lightweight tournament to crown a new 155 champion post-Jens Pulver. Pulver left the company over contract disputes and therefore vacated the title. (Interesting side note: Gray Maynard is the linear champion!) He lost out to BJ Penn but took the Hawaiian to the distance, something Penn never had to do en route to victory.
Serra fought sparingly after this, splitting four bouts over 3 years. He also found a home at 170 pounds after spending his career in the lightweight division.
His loss to Karo Parisyan in June of 2005 seemingly pegged Serra as a fighter whose best days were behind him.
A little less than a year later, Dana White approached Serra and fifteen other UFC veterans with a proposal: take part in the burgeoning success of The Ultimate Fighter and win a title shot in your respective division.
Serra stood out as one of the most colorful personalities during the season, landing himself a lot of camera time and exposure. He got himself into two small feuds during filming, one with grappling coach Marc Laimon over Laimon's supposed slighting of the Gracie family's significance in modern MMA. The other feud, which was used as a launching pad for The Ultimate Fighter 6, was with former Welterweight champion Matt Hughes. Hughes stopped in for an episode and rubbed Serra the wrong way, something the scrappy Long Island native made no secret after filming was complete.
En route to the finals, Serra dispatched of Pete Spratt (who pulled a Chris Leben and lost twice in the house) and avenged his first loss to Shonie Carter.
At The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale, Serra squeaked by Chris Lytle in a fight that really could have gone either way. A split decision victory earned Serra a shot at the Welterweight title which was won by Georges St. Pierre a week later.
Serra was set to make his challenge at UFC 67 in February of 2007, co-headlining the bout with fellow TUF 4 winner Travis Lutter against GSP and Anderson Silva, respectively. An injury suffered by the French Canadian postponed their bout to April.
Serra had nothing but kind words for his opponent leading up to the bout, having gained respect for St. Pierre during filming of The Ultimate Fighter. That, combined with his dislike of Matt Hughes, led Serra to say he enjoyed watch Hughes get beaten by GSP although part of him wished Hughes had won so Serra could beat him himself.
The bout was finally set to headline UFC's first event in Texas. Some gambling websites had him listed as a -600 underdog. A $100 bet on "The Terror" would win you $600 should Serra somehow pull out the victory. But honestly, who expected that?
In the most shocking upset of all time, Matt Serra calmly took out who many thought was unbeatable and did it in a little over three minutes without breaking a sweat.
The memory of Serra crumpling at the feet of Shonie Carter had all but been erased. Replacing it was the image of Serra raining down punches on top of an overwhelmed GSP followed by Dana White wrapping the Welterweight title around Serra's waist.
While Lutter failed in his bid for the middleweight crown (and in fact, failed to make weight), Serra made the most of his "golden goose" and cemented himself as the perennial underdog and a UFC champion.
After the fight, Serra continued to show GSP respect and St. Pierre returned the favor. He stated Serra was the better man that night and was eager to work his way back to title contention.
At this point, the UFC was gaining all kinds of mainstream exposure and Serra was picked by Dana White to be a coach of The Ultimate Fighter, the first participant of the show, to come back and coach his own team. Standing on the opposite end was Matt Hughes. The seeds for another great rivalry had already been sown and would be cultivated over the course of 12 weeks leading to a bout at UFC 79.
Serra was chomping at the bit for a chance at Hughes. He said that even if he lost, he still won because he would get to punch Hughes in the face.
While Serra was spewing vile in Hughes' direction, he was shocked to hear what he considered to be excuses and thus, disrespect coming from Georges St. Pierre. St. Pierre began to claim he was mentally unfocused and in fact, didn't train as hard as he would have had the bout been with someone along the lines of Hughes.
Serra retorted, calling GSP "frenchy" and said, "Drink your red wine, go to your hockey game and shut up."
The newly sprung feud between the current champ and this particular former champ had to be put on hold as the previous feud with another former champ was in full swing.
In a move that almost personifies Serra's attitude, he chose friend and teammate Joe Scarola as his first pick over heavy favorite Mac Danzig. Hughes made him pay for the mistake and picked Danzig up with his first pick. Danzig then went on to eliminate Scarola from the competition in the first round, a match Hughes set up in order to mess with Serra's head.
It didn't work, as Serra's team would go on to win six of the eight quarter-final match-ups leaving Team Hughes with only two participants.
A bowling contest, a la Penn and Pulver's ping pong game from season five, also went Serra's way, causing a visibly upset Hughes to walk out of the bowling alley.
Hughes would end up having the last laugh as his two participants ended up in the finals, with Mac Danzig coming out the victor.
Hughes had won the battle and was ready to take the war.
Five weeks before their bout at UFC 79, however, Serra was forced to pull out due to injury. He had herniated two discs in his back, an injury severe enough to force retirement. The prognosis came back extremely positive but there was still no way he could compete in December.
The UFC was forced to find a near-last minute replacement to headline their annual New Year's Eve card and the MMA community breathed a sigh of relief and maybe even a collective fist pump when Georges St. Pierre was slotted for a rubber match in what became an Interim Welterweight Title match.
St. Pierre again made short work of Hughes, finishing him in the second round via armbar submission.
Fans missed out on a Serra/Hughes match up but a Serra/St. Pierre rematch was set in stone.
UFC announced their first foray into Canadian territory, headlined by the bout and had a record sell-out.
Serra and St. Pierre have been making the rounds in the media, one calling himself Rocky and the other promising to win or go to the hospital.
Can the underdog do it again? Or will logic hold out?
Can Serra prove he's no fluke? Or will he be remembered as a bump in St. Pierre's road to Welterweight dominance?
