New Main Event for UFC 79

[Remyo]

Matt Serra will not fight at UFC 79 due to a Herniated Disk, Matt Hughes will fight Georges St. Pierre for the Interim Welterweight Title, if Matt Serra cannot fight within a year whoever wins this fight will be made undisputed welterweight champion.
http://www.matt-hughes.com/blog/2007/11/25/gsp-fight/

As most of you know, Serra has dropped out of the fight due to a back injury. I found out and was told that I get to basically pick my opponent. The UFC had called some welterweights, some said they wouldn’t take the fight; but ultimately I got to choose and I chose Georges St. Pierre. I asked to fight GSP.

I think there are a few things that will be in my favor in doing this. I get to fight in Vegas, what I consider my home fighting area, NOT Canada. I don’t think it’s a big deal to switch an opponent over a month out, it’s just not a concern for me. Before I was fighting a guy holding the belt, now I’m fighting a guy that I consider number two in the world. Anyone who thinks this fight will be like the second fight with GSP will be shown wrong on December 29th. THIS IS MY FIGHT!

-Matt

I wanted to see Serra get his ass handed to him but this is a nice fight nonetheless.

[dritero]

Nice, we get to see Matt Hughes get his ass handed to him again by GSP. I would rather see this fight over Hughes / Serra anyday.

[Blarg]

This also means that a rematch between GSP and Serra is more likely since GSP is favoured to win against Hughes. Even if GSP loses to Hughes we still will probably see the fight between Hughes and Serra which has been hyped for so long. So as long as Serra isn't injured for too long and stripped of the belt we should get to see 2 big fights now.

[Remyo]

could go either way really. Their first fight was a quick one with GSP submitting to Hughes, 2nd fight went to GSP late in the 2nd round. Depends on how this short notice will hurt GSP I think Hughes is ready for anyone at this point.

[noblemountain]

GSP's always in amazing shape and has also been helping a couple people in his camp train for upcoming fights, so he'll be ready to go. i'd honestly much rather see this trilogy come to a close then see serra fight. if GSP wins, he'll most likely be able to defend the belt on the canadian show in april...which would be exactly what dana wants. that being said, i got hughes by GNP in the second. i just don't see him dropping two straight to anyone on earth.

[Fhqwghads]

Refresh my memory, how did GSP lose to Serra? It must have been a lucky punch. GSP is going to come back stronger than ever and knock Matt senseless. Matt's a good fighter, no doubt about it, but GSP is in way better condition. All that potential tips the scales in his favor.

Lucky KO's are the only thing I dislike about MMA. A lucky KO is not a good indicator of how strong a fighter is, it just means they got lucky. Cue Gonzaga and Mirco. Granted Cro-cop has been declining in my opinion, but that Gonzaga guy wasn't a prodigy by any means, yet he won.

As far as the fight goes, I would have liked to have seen the Hughes vs. Serra fight. Serra is over-confident in his abilities, and I think Hughes would have reminded him that he's not as good as he thinks.

[noblemountain]

here's a link to the fight. GSP went in a little too confident in my opinion...he got caught hard and just dominated.

http://www.flicklife.com/66478aea48f...att_Serra.html

[Remyo]

idk I favor hughes natural power and abilities on the ground, but GSP is very technical stand up. So it'll all depend on if Hughes can take him down.

[noblemountain]

i trained at miletich camp for a while after i got out of the army and i will never doubt hughes. he walks around at about 185-190 lbs normally and throws around 225 lbs guys like they're babies. GSP is an amazing standup fighter though, and if hughes thinks he can stand and throw with him again...he'll lose again. he needs to get him on the ground and use that freakish strength to dominate.

[Remyo]

i trained at miletich camp

pics plz

[Gares]

They've fought twice and in their first fight, GSP hurt Hughes with a perfect spinning back kick, that made Hughes backup and grab himself. GSP let him recover from this, and there's a reason he did. GSP said that when he went into that first fight, he couldn't even look him in the eyes the moment before the fight start. Matt Hughes is one of GSP's heros and for him, it was impossible to beat Matt Hughes. In their first fight he was mentally weak, and you could argue, beaten before the fight even start. Despite the fact that he was mentally weak in the first fight, he still landed that big kick to Matt's bread basket that could've been the beginning of the end.

2nd fight, GSP rethinks the situation and realizes he gave Matt Hughes too much respect, he's only human right? GSP exposed his mistakes and beat him in such a dominant fashion that I think Matt Hughes is going to have to be in better shape than he's ever been in before to win their third fight.

Matt Hughes is also quoted on the latest season of TUF to saying "My time's ticking in this sport, I've only got 3-4 fights left in me." That to me says he isn't going to come in the fight in the best shape of his life, he'll probably come in a great Matt Hughes, but the best Matt Hughes you've ever seen? I think not.

All of my predictions play on the fact that Matt Hughes is a highly mental fighter. He constantly talks about the mental aspect of the sport, how it's 50% physical 50% mental, and he is trying to get into Matt Serra's head and he was trying to get into GSP's head before their second fight. Matt is a highly mental fighter and I think GSP is going to finish him, badly.

[noblemountain]

got a vid from my last fight, dislocated my elbow in the match...which you can see when i get caught in the armbar. i never fought for miletich, just trained there for a few months while i lived in bettendorf.


http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...ideoid=2265894

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...ideoid=2266002

[Remyo]

got a vid from my last fight, dislocated my elbow in the match...which you can see when i get caught in the armbar. i never fought for miletich, just trained there for a few months while i lived in bettendorf.


http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...ideoid=2265894

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...ideoid=2266002

sweet, couple questions:
were you the guy applying the triangle or the guy getting choked couldn't tell short colors were the same.
do you train now, if so where? ( i live in alabama too)
you're intro said you weighed in @ 180lbs was that for middleweight(185) if so why did you not cut and fight @ 170, or was that the max for a different weight class system.
I think thats it, I may think of more.

[noblemountain]

i was the guy getting the triangle put on him, start of the fight isn't on there, but he came out with a flying knee, i caught him in a good slam...then he went for the triangle. i slammed him 3 or 4 times before finally getting out of the triangle, and left my arm posted (yeah...very dumb) and he took advantage of it and transitioned into a perfect armbar. it was an amateur fight, so elbows weren't allowed, which screwed my gameplan a little bit.

i have a few people i train with personally, there aren't many gyms around here that are worth the money in my opinion. there's a group of about 5 of us that help train each other. i'm still training now, looking for fights when i can get them.

it was a middleweight fight, i'm normally a welterweight fighter, but that fight was all the promoter had, so i took it. it was just a matter of wanting to fight, no matter what. i'm actually trying to drop to lightweight at the moment. haven't fought that low before, so i'm trying to gauge how i'll feel and if it's worth it. i walk around about 180-185 right now...so trying to drop 15 to 20 lbs before my water weight cut is kinda rough.

nice to see some other 'bama folks on here...lol
you north or south?

[Chips]

i was the guy getting the triangle put on him, start of the fight isn't on there, but he came out with a flying knee, i caught him in a good slam...then he went for the triangle. i slammed him 3 or 4 times before finally getting out of the triangle, and left my arm posted (yeah...very dumb) and he took advantage of it and transitioned into a perfect armbar. it was an amateur fight, so elbows weren't allowed, which screwed my gameplan a little bit.

i have a few people i train with personally, there aren't many gyms around here that are worth the money in my opinion. there's a group of about 5 of us that help train each other. i'm still training now, looking for fights when i can get them.

it was a middleweight fight, i'm normally a welterweight fighter, but that fight was all the promoter had, so i took it. it was just a matter of wanting to fight, no matter what. i'm actually trying to drop to lightweight at the moment. haven't fought that low before, so i'm trying to gauge how i'll feel and if it's worth it. i walk around about 180-185 right now...so trying to drop 15 to 20 lbs before my water weight cut is kinda rough.

nice to see some other 'bama folks on here...lol
you north or south?

It's awesome to see other fighters on this board! I haven't actually fought yet myself (MMA is banned in Ontario :/), but I'm looking to get my first fight in. I train in BJJ and Karate (though in an MMA style fight, I'd definitely have a boxing stance), and I'd fight at 155. If anyone knows how to go about and get a fight, post em'?

[noblemountain]

i'd heard mma was still illegal in some parts of canada, do they have amateur fights there though? i know amateur fights in some countries require pads and silly stuff like that, but most of your amateur fights in the US just have extra rules (no elbows, ground punches, w/e silly rule they can think of). if you're close enough to the US, i'd suggest checking out the closest descent size city and seeing if they have some gyms or promotions that run regularly there. just contact the promoter, send a training video and pics and see if you can get an amateur fight. you won't get paid for the first couple fights as an amateur, but you'll get experience and you'll get your name out there. how long have you been training?

[melbufrauma]

Kimbo slice needs to come out of that shitty leage MXC or whatever its called on Shotime and come to UFC!

[Chips]

i'd heard mma was still illegal in some parts of canada, do they have amateur fights there though? i know amateur fights in some countries require pads and silly stuff like that, but most of your amateur fights in the US just have extra rules (no elbows, ground punches, w/e silly rule they can think of). if you're close enough to the US, i'd suggest checking out the closest descent size city and seeing if they have some gyms or promotions that run regularly there. just contact the promoter, send a training video and pics and see if you can get an amateur fight. you won't get paid for the first couple fights as an amateur, but you'll get experience and you'll get your name out there. how long have you been training?

Well, I've only recently started doing BJJ/Karate, but I have been training boxing for a year. In Ontario, all MMA is banned, though I think that it's going to change within the next year or so. However, I do live close enough to the states so that I could go to an amateur fight there, and I would certainly not be expecting any sort of income for this.

[noblemountain]

i'm sure your best opportunities lie in the states. i've met a lot of canadian fighters who drive all over the US taking fights where they can. i've driven quite a few hours for fights as well...so it's really not that different. the reality of it is that MMA is still growing and it will be a little while before it's as big as boxing where we can get fights in any city easily and have 30-40 fights before we turn pro. most of your pro fighters now only have 10 fights and end up getting exposed in the larger organizations. i only have 10 fights under my belt myself, so i have a long way to go before i feel i'm ready for a bigger stage. i'm fortunate because MMA is actually pretty big here and there's two organizations that run shows fairly regularly in my area.

[Chips]

So think that you'll be turning pro any time soon? :D