He walked out to the Octagon with a remix of the old
"Rocky" theme song playing in the arena. In the end, Matt Serra couldn't have
scripted it any better.
Serra, 32, of East Meadow scored a stunning first-round TKO to win the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's welterweight title. Serra knocked out former
champ Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69 Saturday night at Toyota Center in Houston
to win the belt.
(Photo by UFC's Josh Hedges)
Serra, who owns two Brazilian jiu-jitsu academies on Long Island, earned
his title shot after winning the fourth season of SpikeTV's reality show "The
Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback."
"It feels great to bring the title to Long Island," Serra said by phone
last night. "A lot of people doubted me."
Not many gave Serra a chance against St. Pierre, who recorded a vicious
knockout of Matt Hughes in November to win the belt. Many consider Hughes to be
the greatest welterweight in UFC history.
Serra's strength is his grappling. He is the first American to earn a black
belt under Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Renzo Gracie.
The 5-6 Serra stood in the center of the Octagon and decided to go toe to
toe with the 5-10 St. Pierre. He avoided the Canadian's high kicks and sharp
jabs. Midway through the first round, Serra landed a flurry of punches that
stunned St. Pierre, and Serra swooped in to finish him off.
"When I hurt him, I pounced on him," Serra said. "I think it was a
different fight than he expected. I sparred with a lot of guys for this fight.
I did at least 80 rounds of sparring."
Serra earned his title shot after getting a split decision over Chris Lytle
in the reality show's season finale in November. The show was labeled "The
Comeback" because each one of the fighters had at least one prior fight in the
UFC.
"I couldn't be prouder of the guy," Serra's striking coach Ray Longo said
in the Octagon after the fight. "All I wanted him to do was believe in himself
and fight the way he spars. He fought better than he spars. He has the heart,
he has the desire and that's why he's the champion."
Two of Serra's top students were on Saturday night's undercard. Bay Shore
native Pete Sell lost by unanimous decision to Brazilian Thales Leites. New
Hyde Park's Luke Cummo overwhelmed Josh Haynes before the referee stopped the
fight in the second round.
Serra has been overcome by the reception he is receiving from fans and
friends. "My [cell phone] mailbox is full," Serra said. "I have to delete
messages to get new ones. I'm trying to call everyone back."
Comments (4)
I'm thrilled beyond belief that Matt won the belt. It couldn't have happend to a more deserving guy. I'll be attending his seminar down here in Charleston, SC at the end of this month and I'm psyched!
This was maybe the most stunning upset in UFC history. How could you not be happy for Serra, who had spent so much time training others, finally now achieving what nobody thought was possible. He just might be the underdog for each subsequent title defense. Let's hope that he can shock everyone again.
Huge congratulations to Matt- no one believed that he would actually win the title- and he proved them wrong. Lets hope he remains the champ for a long time to come. Thanks for bringin the title to Long Island!!
Could not have happened to a better person. He deserves that belt 110%. Matt is a increibile person, teacher & fighter. His words were true to heart, he indeed did shock the world. Old saying:.."Always listen to experts, they will tell you what cant be done & why,..then do it" Thats what Matt did, he has the heart of lion.