Ok, who all was surprised at the outcome of this fight and what does it mean for the 170’s? I thought that Serra would give Rush a good fight just because he has a good chin and is a real smart fighter, but I have to admit, I didn’t see him KO’ing Rush in Round 1. Also it know seems there is quite the wide-open race to fight Serra. Who’s y’all’s top five contenders?
Matt Serra did something huge that night, he had his only opportunity to achieve the pinnacle of his career. Then with a flurry he did.
That being said it was mostly a fluke, in a rematch i think GSP will beat serra. However Hughes will probably get the first rematch. Mostly because of the fact he’s matt hughes, also he looked pretty excited GSP got beat so maybe he’s not looking to fight GSP again anytime soon.
I didn’t like Serra’s chances going in. I figured it’d be RSP in round two but I’ve been wrong before!
I’d LOVE to see Hughes vs. Serra. I’d put my $$$ on Hughes.
It’s funny how you guys are calling Serra’s win a fluke and still see him as the underdog in future fights, even after he totally owned St. Pierre, against all odds.
GSP told everyone that a) he was healthy and b) he lost fair and square to Serra.
[quote]DieselWeasel wrote:
It’s funny how you guys are calling Serra’s win a fluke and still see him as the underdog in future fights, even after he totally owned St. Pierre, against all odds.
GSP told everyone that a) he was healthy and b) he lost fair and square to Serra.[/quote]
Things like this happen. Remember Randleman vs. Cro Cop, Lauzon vs. Pulver, Sokoudjou vs. little Nog, Terrell vs. Lindland, Henderson KOing Silva, etc? I guess that’s part of what makes the thrill of MMA. I’d still bet that 8 out of 10 times, GSP would beat Serra…
[quote]michael2507 wrote:
DieselWeasel wrote:
It’s funny how you guys are calling Serra’s win a fluke and still see him as the underdog in future fights, even after he totally owned St. Pierre, against all odds.
GSP told everyone that a) he was healthy and b) he lost fair and square to Serra.
Things like this happen. Remember Randleman vs. Cro Cop, Lauzon vs. Pulver, Sokoudjou vs. little Nog, Terrell vs. Lindland, Henderson KOing Silva, etc? I guess that’s part of what makes the thrill of MMA. I’d still bet that 8 out of 10 times, GSP would beat Serra…[/quote]
I remember those…which one of those was a fluke??
I hope serra subs hughes
[quote]Scrappy wrote:
michael2507 wrote:
DieselWeasel wrote:
It’s funny how you guys are calling Serra’s win a fluke and still see him as the underdog in future fights, even after he totally owned St. Pierre, against all odds.
GSP told everyone that a) he was healthy and b) he lost fair and square to Serra.
Things like this happen. Remember Randleman vs. Cro Cop, Lauzon vs. Pulver, Sokoudjou vs. little Nog, Terrell vs. Lindland, Henderson KOing Silva, etc? I guess that’s part of what makes the thrill of MMA. I’d still bet that 8 out of 10 times, GSP would beat Serra…
I remember those…which one of those was a fluke??
[/quote]
I wouldn’t necessarily call them flukes, but definitely upsets. Just like Serra vs. GSP.
To me, Serra still remains the underdog against Hughes, Penn or in a possible rematch against GSP.
[quote]michael2507 wrote:
Scrappy wrote:
michael2507 wrote:
DieselWeasel wrote:
It’s funny how you guys are calling Serra’s win a fluke and still see him as the underdog in future fights, even after he totally owned St. Pierre, against all odds.
GSP told everyone that a) he was healthy and b) he lost fair and square to Serra.
Things like this happen. Remember Randleman vs. Cro Cop, Lauzon vs. Pulver, Sokoudjou vs. little Nog, Terrell vs. Lindland, Henderson KOing Silva, etc? I guess that’s part of what makes the thrill of MMA. I’d still bet that 8 out of 10 times, GSP would beat Serra…
I remember those…which one of those was a fluke??
I wouldn’t necessarily call them flukes, but definitely upsets. Just like Serra vs. GSP.
To me, Serra still remains the underdog against Hughes, Penn or in a possible rematch against GSP.[/quote]
I have to agree with this. Serra is a scrappy fighter and he caught GSP with a good left that dazed him. That just opened it up for him to start the pounding. That can happen in any fight.
Serra has to get the credit for what he did but even he needs to see how lucky that was.
this is why MMA is the sport of the underdog. I’ll be the first to say that GSP is a class act and my fav fighter but now I can boast that 2 UFC champs in Sherk and Serra are both 5’6" 
my height.
by the way, Sokoudjou at Pride 34 did it again. He absolutely destroyed Arona, so he is for real. For a judo practitioner who’s been doing MMA for 2 years, his striking is unreal. He’s only 23 and is ridiculously talented and athletic.
[quote]Arioch wrote:
I have to agree with this. Serra is a scrappy fighter and he caught GSP with a good left that dazed him. That just opened it up for him to start the pounding. That can happen in any fight.
Serra has to get the credit for what he did but even he needs to see how lucky that was.[/quote]
Lucky?
Serra was landing SOLID blows the entire fight. Do we need to watch it together in slo-mo so I can point out the NUMEROUS punches he landed. Even my wife said, “Wow, his boxing skills are great.”
The hook was hardly a “lucky shot.” It was one of many well-executed punches.
Let’s face it. No one was expecting Serra to have any sort of boxing skills. Everyone was worried about his jiu jitsu. That shows in how GSP fought. GSP was throwing high “karate kid” type of kicks and otherwise acting like he was the dominant striker. As it turns out, this was a bad strategy.
When they fight again, GSP won’t be throwing high karate-kid kicks. He’ll have more respect for Serra’s punching ability and he’ll respond accordingly.
[quote]muscleshark wrote:
this is why MMA is the sport of the underdog. I’ll be the first to say that GSP is a class act and my fav fighter but now I can boast that 2 UFC champs in Sherk and Serra are both 5’6" my height.[/quote]
I hear ya!
As for GSP, I hope he gets a shot again soon…even if he is taller than me!
OK, who wants to see Sokoudjou vs. Shogun?
[quote]michael2507 wrote:
Scrappy wrote:
michael2507 wrote:
DieselWeasel wrote:
It’s funny how you guys are calling Serra’s win a fluke and still see him as the underdog in future fights, even after he totally owned St. Pierre, against all odds.
GSP told everyone that a) he was healthy and b) he lost fair and square to Serra.
Things like this happen. Remember Randleman vs. Cro Cop, Lauzon vs. Pulver, Sokoudjou vs. little Nog, Terrell vs. Lindland, Henderson KOing Silva, etc? I guess that’s part of what makes the thrill of MMA. I’d still bet that 8 out of 10 times, GSP would beat Serra…
I remember those…which one of those was a fluke??
I wouldn’t necessarily call them flukes, but definitely upsets. Just like Serra vs. GSP.
To me, Serra still remains the underdog against Hughes, Penn or in a possible rematch against GSP.[/quote]
I might call him an underdog there too but in his first fight with Penn I thought he did fine. I thought it was a draw and Penn didn’t win, neither did Matt though. I’ve known matt since he was a blue belt at Renzo’s and his striking has really come a long way. It is no joke that he has very heavy hands once he gets inside. He really hits HARD!
I’m so happy for him. I think he can beat Hughes and BJ. I think GSP is a tougher fight for him than those two. Hughes does not have better stand up than Serra, not like GSP does and Hughes won’t have an easy time with GNP on Serra. Hughes has the edge on takedowns and td defense. But I give Serra the edge in striking and definitely in subbing. BJ and Serra will always be an intersting fight.
Anyway, I’m just really happy for Serra. He deserves this and is the first TUF guy to hold a belt I believe.
[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Arioch wrote:
I have to agree with this. Serra is a scrappy fighter and he caught GSP with a good left that dazed him. That just opened it up for him to start the pounding. That can happen in any fight.
Serra has to get the credit for what he did but even he needs to see how lucky that was.
Lucky?
Serra was landing SOLID blows the entire fight. Do we need to watch it together in slo-mo so I can point out the NUMEROUS punches he landed. Even my wife said, “Wow, his boxing skills are great.”
The hook was hardly a “lucky shot.” It was one of many well-executed punches.
Let’s face it. No one was expecting Serra to have any sort of boxing skills. Everyone was worried about his jiu jitsu. That shows in how GSP fought. GSP was throwing high “karate kid” type of kicks and otherwise acting like he was the dominant striker. As it turns out, this was a bad strategy.
When they fight again, GSP won’t be throwing high karate-kid kicks. He’ll have more respect for Serra’s punching ability and he’ll respond accordingly.[/quote]
Agreed. Serra fought well and was landing shots the whole time. It was not a lucky punch out of nowhere.
This was a good fight, and i was shocked that serra won. To be honest i had totally writen him off since the first time i heard he was going to fight GSP. But i guess thats mma huh? BTW im surprised no one has posted anything about the koscheck vs. Sanchez fight. That fight probably could have been a main event fight. I expected sanchez to win, even though kos has some of the best wrestling skills i’ve ever seen in the octagon.
GSP, in defeat, showed he is a man’s man. Honest, no excuses, and respectful of his opponent. Class act all the way.
I am very happy for Serra also. It cracked me up when he said he was hungry and wondered if Rogan and Dana White had enough humble pie to go around.
That being said, the UFC needs to get rid of Goldberg immediately, if not sooner. He sounds like a carnival barker that promo’s things during the round and refuses to shut up and let our eyes see what’s going on. That has to stop.