[Hackman]

@ looney liam

During the TUF hughes VS serra, hughes did comment about him only having "2 or 3 fights left". Is its possible that he is almost giving him a scape goat for the Randy C method of announcing retiring end of the fight ?

If hughes was to win he would continue, but if he lost, why would he fight 2-3 more and not even got a title shot to "go out on a high note".
Hughes also made a comment about "50% of the fight is mental" (not an exact quote) and this leads me to think that he is almost talking himself out of winning..
But again, maybe this is all part of the "mental game" knowing it would all get back to serra to make him think differently.

I think it is more interesting leading up to the fight within a day or 2 before bets should be made to which way this card will go.

[Hazflo]

this should be SWEET. PPV of the year

[TeamPunishment5]

did they take away the bj penn bout?

if they did im gonna be pissed lol

[rufio.e0]

yeah it looks like they did... that sucks.

[Saiyan3s]

BJ Penn is fighting in January. It was part of Dana's announcemnt on his press conf few days ago.. Just waitng for opponent..

[pureredwhiteblu]

Originally Posted by Nick_V03

Hughes is respectable after he wins fights, I hope he embarrasses Serra though. Serra is always saying Hughes is a jerk and cocky yet Serras the one who has been running his mouth the whole time, he needs to be shut up and Hughes is JUST the guy to shut him up.

Although Nick is a redsox's fan, I have to agree with him. Hughes is a 9x WW champion and future Hall-of-Famer. Matt doesn't trash talk or insult his opponent like Serra has. I have no respect for Serra, and he's an embarassment to the UFC. He actually will be in my town, Castle Rock, CO, tomorrow for a BJJ clinic. Funny thing is, he's charging $115 for the clinic. I'd rather pay the $40 for ppv and watch Hughes' clinic of ground N pound. Go Hughes ! and Go Rockies 2008!

[davidm724]

Originally Posted by pureredwhiteblu

Although Nick is a redsox's fan, I have to agree with him. Hughes is a 9x WW champion and future Hall-of-Famer. Matt doesn't trash talk or insult his opponent like Serra has. I have no respect for Serra, and he's an embarassment to the UFC. He actually will be in my town, Castle Rock, CO, tomorrow for a BJJ clinic. Funny thing is, he's charging $115 for the clinic. I'd rather pay the $40 for ppv and watch Hughes' clinic of ground N pound. Go Hughes ! and Go Rockies 2008!

Another Serra hater... I don't see how Serra has lost the respect of so many people. Is it the voice? The loudness? If you listen to what he says, he's a great coach, and a respectable fighter. He cares about his fighters, which Hughes has proved himself to do the opposite. Hughes is more concerned about winning than he is about his fighters actually learning something. Maybe Serra got lucky against GSP. But you have to respect the fact that he beat GSP. Serra has a damn good resume, even though it may not be as impressive as Hughes'. Take a close look at who he's fought and how three of his four losses were by decision against Karo, BJ, and Din Thomas. That's respectable. His loss to Shonie Carter's infamous spinning backfist, was a horrible shame. I just don't see how Serra is an "embarassment" to the UFC.

[pureredwhiteblu]

The reasons why I don't like Serra:
1.He talks about how much Hughes is a dick. This is so unwarranted. Matt Hughes is a 9x WW Champion. He doesn't trash talk, he lets his fights speak for themselves.

How many highlights does UFC have of Hughes; albeit, some are with Hughes on the negative end.(ie GSP KO and Penn RNC). And how many highlights does UFC have of Serra? There is only one, compliments of Shonie Carter. Now I understand maybe some of this trash talk from Serra has something to do with hyping up the fight. After all, Serra is not only an athlete,but a business man as well.

2.But I think another reason is that Serra is just scared. This is his first Title defense, and second title fight. If he loses, then everyone will know that he was just a fluke. It's one thing to become a champion. It's something totally different to defend that title over and over and over again. That, my friend, is a Hall-of-Famer. Serra is not that caliber type of fighter. GSP will be, eventually, but not Serra.

If anyone has been a dick, it's been Serra. He has been directly insulting Hughes. The best quote on the show is when Hughes said on Ep.1. "I have nothing against you. I am not the one talking bad about you." I will give Serra this. He speaks his mind, but so do fools. He's not a straight shooter. He talks out of both sides of his mouth, and behind peoples' back. He doesn't have much character or Integrity. When his boy on TUF 6 had to leave, Serra was coddling him. Buddy this,and Buddy that. It was so pathetic. Then, behind his back, Serra was trash talking his own friend. Not much of a coach if you ask me.

This drama between these guys started during TUF 4 Comeback. Hughes was scheduled to fight GSP. He likes GSP, and like most guys, teases people. He was just having fun, and maybe trying to get into GSP's psyche. Serra, the GSP nuthugger that he is, got all mad about it.

Serra also got bent out of shape with one of Hughes' coaches' comment about Royce Gracie.

For someone who tries to look confident and together, Serra sure gets bent out of shape easily. It's probably because he's insecure. He feels like he has to prove himself.

To Hughes, that is just so much fun. He knows he's in Serra's head, so he already has won the fight.

Serra is trying to give Hughes a little bit of his own medicine. It's working to an extent, but it won't change the outcome of the fight in December. Hughes will go right through Serra, and I won't be surprised if Hughes incorporates Shonie's move as well.

Hughes is just pissed that his team is losing fights. He's really competitive and he doesn't accept defeat. He can't even say the word "Lose". Beginning of the season, he said, "I didn't come here...not to win"

So say what you will about Hughes. He is used to it. People hate him because he has been on top for sooo long and because he proclaims his faith in God.

Enough said....

[davidm724]

Pish-posh.
In order to make a good point with comparisons, you should probably include the obvious faults on both sides. Allow me to fill in the blanks.

1. Hughes was very blatantly playing mind games with not only Serra, but Scarola as well. Now, this was before we knew Scarola was a total puss. At this time, he was the loyal friend to Matt Serra, who was approached by Matt Hughes, who said he wanted him on his team. He planted his little seed in Joey's head, and Serra made sure to pick him first. As soon as Joey walked away, Hughes made it clear that he had no intention of picking Joey. It was a big funny joke to him, and he just had such a good time playing his little mind games. That's like something high school cheerleaders do to the try-out cheerleaders because that's what bitches do.

2. Who cares about highlights. Live in the now, buddy. Serra may be older than most up-and-comers, but he still has potential. Maybe he can't cut it as a top tier fighter, but he has respectable ability. His ability got him through TUF, earned him a shot at the title, and pulled off an impressive win over GSP.

3. So what if he "coddled" Joey when he was pussing out. Did you listen to their whole issue? Joey was his best man at his wedding. He's like a brother to Serra. Serra did everything he could to get him on the show because Joey really wanted the opportunity. If Joey decided to leave the house, he'd have NO career in MMA. He'd be a disgrace to the sport. As a businessman, Serra could not keep him at his gym. So, Serra gives him an ultimatum... leave and lose your job at the gym, or stay and tough it out for a few more weeks. Joey made the decision to throw every aspect of their relationship down the drain. Not only did he lose his job, he lost Serra's respect as a fighter and as a man. He tried to talk Joey out of committing professional suicide. Think of it that way.

4. Don't get me started on Laimon. He was being a prick, and he got what was coming to him. Serra stood up for Gracie, because Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is Matt Serra's background, and it's where he got his black-belt. Surely, after 15 or so years of acquaintanceship with the Gracies, he has the utmost respect for the family and for what they've done for MMA. When Laimon disrespected Royce Gracie, Serra stood up not only for Royce, but for the whole family, Gracie JJ, and himself. He showed Laimon some justified disrespect. Somewhere in his rant against Laimon, he even showed Hughes a good deal of respect for beating Royce. That shows both character and integrity. He put aside their own rivalry to show Hughes respect.

5. "I didn't come here...not to win" -- Did he come here...not to coach? You're right, he's pissed off because his guys aren't winning. He's pissed off because his guys aren't listening. Why aren't they listening? They seem to have lost a lot of respect for him as a coach, and he's already given up on them. The only reason why he hasn't walked out on them is because it would be a horrible career move... for HIM. The way I look at it (and that may just be me), it's all about him. It's not about his fighters. That's where he screwed up as a coach.

I'll leave it at that. Sorry to everyone for making this so long, but like I said, I was just filling in the blanks.

[mma17]

I can't wait to see Melvin fight!