Fightin' Words

By Joe Fernandez
Newsday.com

The trilogy match is set -- Now will it be "Hughes Strikes Back" or "Return of the Georges?"

Because of an injury to UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, the UFC "scrambled," but quickly found another fighter to challenge Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on December 29.

By Joe Fernandez
Newsday.com

Matt Serra will have to wait for his first title defense.

The UFC welterweight champion herniated a disc in his lower back during a training session Monday on Long Island. The East Meadow native will now withdraw from his UFC 79 December fight against Matt Hughes, according to a story posted Thursday on UFC.com

Serra won the title against Georges St. Pierre in April via a first-round TKO at UFC 69 in Houston.

More info to come on this story.

By Joe Fernandez
Newsday.com

I think the better question is, can anyone make it to the third round against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva? In five UFC fights, the Brazilian has not only remained undefeated but finished each fight by the second round.

Now, Silva gets a huge test.

According to UFC.com, former Pride champion Dan Henderson will drop down from 205 pounds and fight Silva for the belt at 185.

Henderson lost his Pride 205-pound belt against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson with a unanimous decision loss in September. Jackson a natural light-heavyweight looked bigger and was able to control the lighter Henderson during their match. Henderson, a tough fighter at both weight classes, should be better suited in the middleweight division.

The word is the fight would be set for March. Henderson is still Pride's 185-pound champion.

By KATIE STRANG

Fom the Rock in Newark, New Jersey, here are the results of UFC 78: Validation.

Michael Bisping vs. Rashad Evans
Evans wins a split decision
Evans gets the better of Bisping in most exchanges and even picks up Bisping and slams him early in the second round.

Houston Alexander vs. Thiago Silva
Silva by referee stoppage due to unanswered punches at 3:25 of the first round.
Silva exposes Alexander's weakness on the ground, gains the mount and dishes out punishment.

Joe Doerksen vs. Ed Herman
Herman by referee stoppage at :29 second of the third round
Herman wins with a left hook to the head after getting saved by the bell in the second round. Doerksen caught Herman in a triangle before the horn ended the round.

Karo Parisyan vs. Ryo Chonan
Parisyan wins unanimous decision
Judo expert grinds out a victory.

Frankie Edgar vs. Spencer Fisher
Edgar by unanimous decision
Crowd favorite from Toms River, N.J., controls the fight throughout.

Chris Lytle vs. Thiago Alves
Alves wins by doctor stoppage after the second round
Crowd felt it was stopped too soon; both fighters seemed to agree.

Jason Reinhardt vs. Joe Lauzon
Lauzon wins by rear-naked choke at 1:14 of the first round
Lauzon controls the fight and slips on the choke.

Luke Caudillo vs. Marcus Aurelio
Aurelio wins by referee stoppage due to unanswered strikes at 4:29 of the first round
One-sided fight the whole way, finally ending when the ref comes in to save Caudillo.

Akihiro Gono vs. Tamdan McCrory
Gono wins by armbar at 3:19 of the second round.
McCrory comes out strong, winning the first round on two of the three judges' cards. Gono catches McCrory in a nasty armbar that forces McCrory to tap out verbally.

By Joe Fernandez
Newsday.com

It used to be the only fists that flew legally at the Prudential Center were those of the New Jersey Devils and their opponents. But now -- the UFC can be added to that fighting fraternity.

The Prudential Center in Newark will host UFC 78 on Saturday Nov. 17. It's the first time since Conneticut's Mohegan Sun hosted UFC 55 on Oct. 2005 that a UFC event has been held on the East Coast. It's also the first time back in New Jersey since UFC 53 took place in Atlantic City.

Here are some predictions for this weekend’s event:

By Matt Serra
UFC Welterweight champion

My take on choosing the quarterfinals, as well as Longo’s, was that we wanted to put their last remaining guys against each other, and try and shut them out of the finals. One of the producers, along with Dana, implored that we not do that. They told us to not get carried away with the Hughes Vs Serra rivalry thing, that the goal was to find the next best fighter, that, for TV purposes, we were looking for the best fights possible, and that, ideally, the two best fighters in the house would meet in the final, regardless of what team they were on. The producers were DEAD SET against us putting Tommy and Mac against each other. I can’t stress that enough. That, coupled with a few guys on my team’s desire to try and shut Team Hughes out of the semifinals completely, caused me and Longo to buckle, so we did not pit Tommy and Mac against each other.

By Matt Serra
UFC Welterweight champion

We knew about the Tommy vs War Machine matchup once they announced George’s bout with J-Roc, and I have to admit, the matchup concerned me. Earlier, War Machine suggested I match up George with Tommy, because he felt George was one of our best guys, which, to me, meant he thought Tommy was a very strong opponent. If Tommy was an opponent he wanted to avoid, that was a mental obstacle War Machine would have to overcome, and the mental aspect of his game was not one of his strength’s. Truthfully, aside from Joey, War Machine was, mentally, the weakest guy on our team. He had all the physical tools, but as I’ve said before, the mental part is just as, if not more, crucial as the physical element.

By Matt Serra
UFC Welterweight champion

I really thought the way Matt Hughes dumped on Daniel Barrera after last week’s fight was awful. The accusations Matt made about Barrera being scared were off base. Barrera, what he lacked in skill, he made up for in heart and effort. He wasn’t scared. He ate a ton of shots. He’s new to this, and you have to expect some growing pains in this sport.