Matt Serra
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Matt "The Terror" Serra (born June 2, 1974) is an American professional mixed martial artist and the first American Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie.
He stands 5 ft 6in (168cm) and currently fights as a welterweight (170 lbs.).
He was TUF 4 welterweight champion and he is an ex-UFC welterweight champion. He currently fights as a welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Early Career
Matt Serra made his professional mixed martial arts debut for the Vengeance at the Vanderbilt promotion against Graham Lewis on August 21, 1999. Serra entered mixed martial arts as a Pan American Games champion and showed off his ground skills in his debut as he submitted Lewis with an arm bar 1.04 into the first round.
Serra's next two bouts lasted just over a combined total of one minute as he submitted both of his opponents with a guillotine choke and arm bar respectively.
In 2001, Serra placed 2nd in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship 66-76kg division. Choking out future MMA superstar, Takanori Gomi in the process.
Early UFC Career
Due to his highly decorated grappling career and undefeated start to his mixed martial arts career, Serra was signed to a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Serra made his UFC debut at the first UFC event since the buyout by ZUFFA, UFC 31. He faced Shonie Carter and dominated the bout up until the last 10 seconds of the fight where Carter landed a spinning back fist that caught Serra flush and knocked him senseless causing the bout to be stopped with 9 seconds left in the fight.
Returning at UFC 33, Serra faced Yves Edwards who he defeated via majority decision after three rounds.
At UFC 36, Serra got a chance to show off his reputed jiu jitsu skills as he tapped out Kelly Dulanty with a triangle choke 2.58 into round 1.
Following Jens Pulver's decision to vacate the lightweight title because of a contract dispute, the UFC put together a four man tournament that was to be contested over two events with the winner, being crowned the UFC lightweight champion. Serra was judged to be one of the top four lightweights in the UFC and was given a spot in the tournament.
He faced BJ Penn in the semi final stage and lost a close decision.
At UFC 41, Serra faced off against Din Thomas. Thomas was the other loser in the semi final stage of the lightweight tournament. After three rounds the judges declared Serra to be the winner but the decision was later reversed to be a split decision victory for Thomas after the judges realised they had made an error adding up the scores.
Serra bounced back from the first back to back losses of his career when he defeated future WEC competitor, Jeff Curran by unanimous decision at UFC 46.
He scored another unanimous decision victory at UFC 48 when he defeated the tricky Ivan Menjivar.
In June of 2005, Serra faced Karo Parisyan at UFC 53. Serra dropped Parisyan early with a punch that had the Armenian scrambling but he recovered and overcame Serra in the later rounds as he gassed. Parisyan went on to score a unanimous decision victory.
The Ultimate Fighter
With a mixed UFC record of 4-4, Serra was offered a spot on The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback. The fourth season of the hit reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, was dedicated to given UFC veterans who hadn't lived up to their potential a chance at redemption. The show offered the two winner's a title shot in their respective division.
Serra accepted and became a part of Team Mojo on the show. Quickly, Serra began being seen as the unofficial leader of Team Mojo. On Episode 7, Serra had his first fight on the show. He faced and defeated Pete Spratt via submission (strikes) in the first round to move onto the semi finals.
In the semi finals, Serra got a chance at further redemption when he faced the man who handed him his first professional loss and only stoppage loss, Shonie Carter. The fight went pretty much the same as their first meeting except this time when Carter landed his spinning back fist it didn't knock Serra out, thus Serra prevailed via unanimous decision.
Serra moved onto the finals where he faced fellow Team Mojo member, Chris Lytle. After three razor thin rounds, Serra was judged the split decision victor and earned himself a title shot against UFC welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre.
Post-TUF UFC Career
Serra's title shot was set for February 3rd, 2007 at UFC 67 however the bout was postponed until April's UFC 69 after St. Pierre injured his knee during training. The extra training must have helped though as Serra, who was a +700 underdog (to GSP's -1000), did the unthinkable as he knocked out the highly touted champion 3.25 into round 1. Serra was crowned the UFC welterweight champion and in doing so became the first winner of TUF to gain a UFC belt.
Following the St. Pierre victory, Serra was to defend his belt against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 in December of 2007. Firstly though he would coach opposite Hughes on the 6th season of TUF, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra.
The reality show highlighted the grudge held between Hughes and Serra and was doing a great job in building up interest for their UFC 79 bout. Disaster struck however, two weeks before the conclusion of the show's airing as Serra injured his back and had to pull out of the Hughes bout. Georges St. Pierre replaced Serra in the bout and the match was demoted from a UFC welterweight title clash to UFC Interim welterweight title clash while Serra recovered from his injury.
After GSP demolished Hughes, the rematch was set for April 19, 2008 in GSP's home country of Canada at UFC 83. The first UFC card ever to be held in the country. The bout turned into somewhat of a grudge match as Serra responded angrily to comments St. Pierre made about their first encounter in that GSP had taken Serra lightly and had overlooked him. Serra responded by calling St. Pierre "Frenchie" and reminding him of the beatdown he dished out on him. When both fighters arrived in Canada, Serra had no problem in adopting the "heel" role with the Canadian crowd which really helped to build interest and the atmosphere for the fight.
Come fight time, a fiercely focused St. Pierre mixed up takedowns and striking to keep Serra guessing, eventually finishing Serra with knees to the body in round 2.
Since the bout, Serra has used some time off to heal an elbow injury he sustained in the bout with GSP. He will face Matt Hughes in the long overdue bout sometime in 2009.
Mixed Martial Arts Record
| 14 matches | 9 wins | 5 losses |
| By knockout | 1 | 2 |
| By submission | 4 | 0 |
| By decision | 4 | 3 |
| Draws | 0 | |
Record
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Matt Hughes | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida | 5/23/2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Won Fight of the Night Honors |
| Loss | Georges St. Pierre | TKO (Knees to the Body) | UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2 | 4/19/2008 | 2 | 4:45 | Lost UFC Welterweight Championship |
| Win | Georges St. Pierre | TKO (Punches) | UFC 69: Shootout | 4/07/2007 | 1 | 3:25 | Won UFC Welterweight Championship |
| Win | Chris Lytle | Decision (Split) | The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale | 11/11/2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Won TUF 4 Welterweight Contest |
| Loss | Karo Parisyan | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 53: Heavy Hitters | 6/04/2005 | 3 | 5:00 | Welterweight Debut |
| Win | Ivan Menjivar | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 48: Payback | 6/19/2004 | 3 | 5:00 | - |
| Win | Jeff Curran | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 46: Supernatural | 1/31/2004 | 3 | 5:00 | - |
| Loss | Din Thomas | Decision (Split) | UFC 41: Onslaught | 2/28/2003 | 3 | 5:00 | - |
| Loss | BJ Penn | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 39: The Warriors Return | 9/27/2002 | 3 | 5:00 | - |
| Win | Kelly Dullanty | Submission (Triangle Choke) | UFC 36: Worlds Collide | 3/22/2002 | 1 | 2:58 | - |
| Win | Yves Edwards | Decision (Majority) | UFC 33: Victory in Vegas | 9/28/2001 | 3 | 5:00 | - |
| Loss | Shonie Carter | KO (Spinning Back Fist) | UFC 31: Locked & Loaded | 5/04/2001 | 3 | 4:51 | UFC Debut |
| Win | Greg Melisi | Submission (Armbar) | VATV 11: Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 11 | 2/24/2001 | 1 | 0:46 | - |
| Win | Jeff Telvi | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | VATV 7: Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 7 | 1/29/2000 | 1 | 0:30 | - |
| Win | Graham Lewis | Submission (Armbar) | VATV 6: Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 6 | 8/21/1999 | 1 | 1:04 | - |
Gallery
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External links
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Matt-Serra-1305 - Professional MMA Record from Sherdog
http://www.sherdog.com/pictures/gallery/fighter/1305/ - Photo Gallery from Sherdog
--Sam Cupitt 12:10, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
