Combatwire -- New York

Right now the former UFC champion is taking a break from the usual rigorous training regimen, but as the leaves turn color, Matt Serra turns back to all business.

Despite taking some time off, the Long Island product still managed to watch the main event of the UFC 85 card on Saturday, which featured Thiago Alves delivering a devastating knee to the head of Matt Hughes, knocking out the former champion and earning the win. But all Serra wanted to talk about was Hughes' next match.

"I knew regardless of that fight whether he won or lost that I'd be the next fight," Serra said. "Nothing is signed yet, but that's the fight that I believe the UFC will be looking to make...Hopefully by late fall we can do this."

Originally Serra was supposed to defend his title last December against Hughes, but two herniated discs in his back forced the East Meadow native out of the fight. Current champion Georges St. Pierre stepped in and fought Hughes for the interim welterweight title and won by armbar submission. St. Pierre then defeated Serra by referee stoppage in April at UFC 83 in Montreal for the undisputed title.

"It's a fight that he wants, that I want, the fans want," Serra said. "Noboby is going to be a supporter of both Matt Hughes and myself. It's either one or the other."

The 34-year-old Serra has compiled a 16-5 mixed martial arts record and is 6-5 in the UFC. He originally earned the title at UFC 69 in April of 2007 with a first-round referee stoppage against Georges St. Pierre.

"I have to punch guys in the face, guys I like, nice guys like Georges St. Pierre and Chris Lytle," Serra said. "You think I'm not going to want to jump at a chance to fight Matt Hughes? Come on."

Superhuman conditioning and superior wrestling ability are two things that Urijah Faber is known for.

Now after Sunday night's title defense against mixed martial arts veteran Jens Pulver, tactical boxing can be thrown into the mix as well.

The first two rounds were all about Faber's pinpoint right hand. The 29-year-old was able to score big time with that straight right to the face of Pulver, which kept the challenger off balance. But the former UFC lightweight champion had a chin like the Terminator robot on this night and kept coming after Faber.

With the fight taking on a slower pace in the fourth round, Faber didn't slow down at all. Faber continued to work even in the guard of Pulver as the fight progressed, throwing short elbows and looking to pass.

To Pulver's credit, the 33-year-old challenger appeared to be in great shape, providing Faber with his greatest challenge yet in the WEC.

Faber improves to 21-1 in his mixed martial arts career, while Pulver drops to 22-9-1.

Torres defends Bantamweight title

Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda put on a show in the penultimate bout of the night. With dueling ankle locks, lightning-quick submission attempts, powerful strikes and plenty of showmanship, Torres vs. Maeda was easily the best Bantamweight fight this writer has seen.

The WEC Bantamweight champion improves to an incredible 34-1 with a doctor's stoppage win before the start of the fourth round. With Maeda's right eye nearly closed completely, Torres went to work on that part of the challenger's face with a few jabs.

One of most interesting parts of the fight was when Maeda and Torres had each other in ankle locks. Both fighters seemed to escape unscatched as Torres held on for the eventual win.

I'll be updating you as best as I can tonight from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for the Elite XC fight card. Tonight the fights can be seen on CBS at 9 p.m., so feel free to join in on the discussion and ask any questions about the fight or the fighters. I'm sure either me or someone else on the comment portion of the blog can answer. IT'S IMPORTANT TO REFRESH THE PAGE SO YOU CAN SEE MY UPDATES.

Right now, Robbie Lawler is shadow boxing in the cage and providing the growing crowd with a couple of dance steps while the Bee Gees' "Night Fever" plays in the background. Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes will be in Lawler's corner and looks on from outside the cage and then conducts an interview.

There's a good buzz in here right now as the crew makes the last-minute preparations.

First fight is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. as Garden City's Joe Sampieri takes on Mike Groves in a 155-pound fight. I'll be back in a few...

7:04 p.m. Andre Soares vs. Zach Makovsky. So Soares nearly catches Makovsky with a beautiful oma plata shoulder lock. Soares was aggressive during the round and looked for the takedown. We go to the second...

7:17 p.m. Makovsky controlled the second round with good punch combos and kicks with a lot of the same in the third. Soares was doing his best to bring the fight to the ground, but no dice. Makovsky wins by unanimous decision.

7:43 p.m. Sorry about that...don't know if it was the computer or the internet but I was having sending issues. Anyway, James Jones is legit on the ground. His transitions were fluid and he was a handful for Calvin Kattar at their 155-pound matchup. Jones was able to get the back of Kattar near the end of the first round and win by rear naked choke. Jones made Kattar look very uncomfortable for most of the match. By the way, if you want to watch the undercards right now, check out proelite.com

7:54 p.m. Talk about another menace on the ground. Justin Robbins faced Wilson Reis in a 140-pound matchup, and Reis is no joke. Another rear naked choke near the end of the first round. Reis was relentless. It looked like he could've broken or seriously injured Robbins' arm with a nasty armbar. He then transitioned back to the triangle and didn't quit attempting to end the match. After getting Robbins' back, Reis got the submission victory and then jumped on top of the cage, igniting the crowd with the second consecutive submission.

8:00 p.m. Wow. Here comes the entire Serra entoutage with former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, Striking coach Ray Longo, mixed martial artist and Long Island product Pete Sell with tonight's fighter Nick Serra leading the way with a monkey mask on. Nick, Matt's brother, is from East Meadow as well and is 8-2 in his MMA career. He fights Philadelphia's Matt Makowski.

8:08 p.m. Serra looked strong for most of the first round. Both brothers have the ground game and that's where Serra wanted to keep it with Makowski doing a good job on his feet with the strikes. Serra had his back at one point and transitioned to the armbar. First round will probably go to Serra, but Makowski had some nice strikes in there as well. Matt Serra has been a great coach in the ear of his brother. To the second...

8:14 p.m. Wow. What happened here? I don't know if it was fatigue or an injury or what, but Serra just fell down and didn't get up. He appeared very tired, and as the referee took a point away from him he just stayed lying on his back. Then the ref just called the TKO victory for Makowski. I'll find out more as it comes in, but this was very odd.

8:27 p.m. Let me preface this by saying I love the sport of MMA, but this is exactly why the heavyweight division is my least favorite. It's because the fighters don't HAVE to be in peak physical condition. The match between Carlton Haselrig and Carlos Moreno was stopped when Moreno didn't answer the bell after a lackluster, boring first round between the fighters, which consisted of a lot of laying around and loose submission attempts. It was the match that people went to go get drinks during, like when Keith Richards sings at the Stones' concert. (Except for Thru and Thru - that song rules.)

8:38 p.m. Chris Liguori vs. Jim Bova in a 160-pound matchup. Now this picked up the pace a lot after that last match. These guys came to fight. Great, great pace. Liguori looked for plenty of subs in the first round, transitioning from armbar to triangle. First round ends...have to give it to Liguori.

8:45 p.m. So we have a doctor stoppage at 4:31 in the second round. Liguori opened up a huge cut on the forehead of Bova and went to work on it. It looks like we're going live soon. I'll keep you posted.

9:08 p.m. OK. Well we just had our first near-death experience. I guess they were testing the pyrotechnics or juggling M-80s because there was a HUGE boom near the backstage area where the fighters come from. Everyone seems to be fine because the Elite XC dancers have been dancing for the past 10 minutes near the boom. Don't know what you're seeing on television right now, but Frank Shamrock, Gus Johnson and another broadcaster I don't recognize are doing their "stand-up" segment in front of the cage. Almost all the seats that are available are taken. They could've sold so many more tickets if they allowed for more seating by the curtain. Ok...like 4 a.m. at a bar, the music stopped, the lights are on and people are sitting around. I think we're ready to go.

9:17 p.m. Ok, Brett Rogers is on his way out with Busta Rhymes rapping his intro. The crowd seemed into it. Now it's Jon Murphy's turn to enter. Again the pyro went off and startled me and at least some of the crowd. Come on now, not every time with that.

9:25 p.m. As the fighters are being announced, Journalist-friend Big Cat makes a good point. Twenty five minutes into the broadcast and there hasn't been a punch thrown.

9:27 p.m. That was quick. Some clinching and then Rogers lands two nice rights to the head of Murphy and gets the ref stoppage during the first network-televised mixed martial arts event. Rogers improves to 7-0 in his mixed martial arts career. I think this is what's going to happen during the Kimbo Slice/James Thompson match. Early KO.

9:32 p.m. Nearly...and I mean nearly caught a Pure Power Mouthguard hat from the hands of Rogers. He threw it out to the crowd and it didn't quite make press row. Sweet chuck. There definitely is a technique to hat-throwing though. It's tough. By the way...the Elite XC girls should be making more money than the main eventers because they've been dancing for at least two hours.

9:39 p.m. We were going to try to get the "cover-it live" live blog for y'all, but it's just not working for some reason here. But feel free to leave comments or ask questions about the event and I'll do my best to answer them. Massapequa product Phil Baroni is about to head out to the cage. Joe Villasenor is awaiting his entrance, and what an entrance it is. OK, Baroni is dressed as if Hugh Hefner was a pro-wrestler. He's coming out with two ladies that are taking off his red satin? robe for him. I think he thinks he can fight with those shades on. No wait, he just took them off. They might've made him. This one's about to get started.

9:48 p.m. So the heavy-handed Baroni gets the worse of the stand-up as Villasenor nails the MMA veteran with a bevy of strikes before the referee stopage. Two matches and two TKOs for CBS. The crowd is not happy with Baroni's performance, and obviously Baroni is disappointed as well. The Long Island native drops to 10-10, while Villasenor improves to 26-6.

10:03 p.m. Now it's time for the ladies to fight. Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young. Young awaits Carano's entrance. I haven't seen Carano this determined ever. She wants to get this fight underway. Kim Couture stands in Carano's corner. Carano is easily the crowd favorite. She has gotten the loudest ovation so far.

10:14 p.m. Good first round, a lot of action. Carano has to use that front kick more, it's very effective. She even added a takedown, but Young is taking the punishment well and staying in the pocket. First round: Carano.

The crowd is LOVING this fight. With just under two minutes left, Carano rocked Young standing up and then landed another nasty front kick. Carano went for the choke at the end of the second round as time expired. It looks to be a doctor stoppage at the end of the round as Carano earns the win. Her father, Glenn, came in the cage and gave her a big hug. This was easily the crowd's favorite fight of the night to this point.

10:37 p.m. Batting the slow internet access here still. Robbie Lawler is about to defend his EliteXC middleweight belt against Scott Smith. Both are former UFC fighters with plenty of experience. They both have heavy hands, this might not last long.

10:45 p.m. Lawler nearly ended the fight at the end of the first with a huge flurry of strikes. Smith survived the round and now Smith is answering back in the second and the crowd is appreciating the fight in Smith. Now Smith lands a short elbow to the face of Lawler, which appeared to cut him open on the forehead with under a minute to go. Smith still using those elbows effectively. Round two is over. It looks like a round a piece so far. Nice recovery by Smith.

11:04 p.m. You guys are probably hearing this better than me because the crowd is booing so loudly. With a thumb in the eye and Smith unable to continue, this fight is ruled a no contest and Lawler retains his belt. Too bad, this one was turning out to be a great contest. Apparently if it went three rounds, the fight would've went to the cards. Either way, the crowd is not happy but they're still clapping for the fighters. Elite just announced that both fighters are receiving their win bonuses.

11:20 p.m. James Thompson just entered the cage. Here comes Kimbo Slice. Slice enters the cage with just about everybody south of Tenafly, New Jersey. I mean there were A LOT of dudes that followed him out. I think that's how I'd roll too. Straight Gracie clan-esque, with a train of at least 20 family and friends.

11:32 p.m. Good first round. I have to admit, better than I expected. Thompson had a nice takedown early, but Slice battled back and was able to reverse position at one point. We even saw Kimbo Slice's guard. Wow. To the second...

11:41 p.m. Well, after a second round that featured a very tired Kimbo Slice on his back, the YouTube legend scored the technical knockout. A vicious right landed on the cauliflower left ear of Thompson early in the third. Covered in blood, Thompson became the victim of a Slice combo that was enough to stop the fight, much to the dismay of the Great Britain product. Had it not been stopped, Slice was clearly set up for a knockout after a violent upper cut and hook.

Some final thoughts: It appeared to many that Slice tapped during a second-round guillotine. Thompson said in the post-fight press conference that Slice didn't tap. Slice said he didn't tap, but some people aren't buying it. I can't wait to check out a replay of the fight with a slow-motion and pause button when it's available. Also, near the second round when Thompson was on top of Slice, raining down some shots, it looked like Thompson was either very tired or not putting 100-percent into his strikes. At that point, Slice had nothing left in the gas tank. Even though Thompson wasn't hammering Slice, he wasn't defending himself or trying to better his position, I thought there could've been a stoppage possibly just for the fact that Slice was just taking these quasi-strikes and not doing anything.

Anyway, here's the final fight story. I was literally writing it during the press conference, updating it with more info as I got it from the fighters. It's all set now: STORY

Once again, thanks to all the readers that followed the blog and contributed to the comments section. I appreciate it.

-- Joe

Here's a story I wrote on Jens Pulver fighting Urijah Faber on June 1. Jens seemed to be in great spirits during the interview. This is Faber's biggest fight to date, so it should be a great one on Sunday.

Here's the story

For Sean Sherk, it's about redemption.

For Lyoto Machida and Keith Jardine, it's about getting to that next level.

For Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva, it's all about returning to that level.

UFC 84 is riddled with crossroads. Mixed martial artists fighting not only for titles but for respect as well. Here are my predictions for Saturday's MGM Grand Garden Arena card in Las Vegas.

Former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk (35-2, 6-2 UFC) returns from his performance-enhancing drug suspension and faces the man that earned the vacant title with a win against Joe Stevenson in January. For Sherk to win this match, he's going to need to use his superior strength and wrestling ability to stay on top of Penn (13-4, 8-3-1) for five rounds and grind out a decision. I don't see Sherk finishing Penn unless, like Penn's second Matt Hughes' match, he sustains an injury. Penn has better standup, and for certain, Sherk will not submit the champ.

But I do see Sherk getting hammered standing up and when he goes in for a shot, Penn uses his takedown defense and his dexterity to block the attempt. Eventually, I think Penn will get Sherk's back midway through the second round and win by rear naked choke.

Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine

Can Keith Jardine earn wins against both Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva? Not yet.

I think we're going to get the best Silva that we've seen in years. I don't know much about running with a snorkel on (UFC: All Access show), but Silva (31-8-1, 1-3) knows he needs a win. If an opponent sits back against Jardine, the 32-year-old will throw vicious leg kicks and win on points (Liddell fight), but if Silva attacks, like he absolutely can, then he will earn the TKO win against Jardine (Houston Alexander fight). I see Silva returning to form, overwhelming Jardine and earning the TKO win.

Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic

Like the placement of the Kalib Starnes/Nate Quarry match puzzled me at the last UFC card, this fight's placement puzzles me as well. I understand Gouveia (10-4, 4-1) has won his last four UFC matches after a decision loss to Jardine, but does this fight deserve higher billing than the Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida match? Was this done to possibly get under the skin of the departing Ortiz? I don't know too much about Reljic. He's 7-0 in other organizations and is making his UFC debut. He's won five of those matches by submission. But Gouveia is more battle-tested in the Octagon. He wins this one by TKO/KO in the second.

Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida

Ortiz enters the Octagon possibly for the last time. More than possibly, but you never know. Machida is undefeated in his mixed martial arts career and has a unique striking style thanks to his Karate background. It will do Ortiz (16-5-1, 14-5-1) no good to stand and trade with Machida. He needs to take Machida down and punish the 12-0, 4-0 contender. Under normal circumstances, I give the edge to Machida in this one. But because this is Tito's victory lap and he has a lot of pride on the line, I think Ortiz will out work Machida and earn the decision victory.

Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes

Silva is that late draft pick that turns out to be a star. Not much attention has been paid to the 25-year-old Brazilian, but he's 11-0 overall and now 3-0 in the UFC with three referee stoppages. Silva continues his ascension up the light heavyweight division with this TKO stoppage in the first round against Mendes (14-2), who is making his UFC debut.

Readers: Who will win these matches?

Enjoy.

-- Joe Fernandez

There's a picture of former UFC welterweight champion and Long Island native Matt Serra on their web site. The picture reads: "You can help me fight in New York."

The UFC-sponsored site is mmafacts.com. It's main objective is to "educate the readers on the sport of mixed martial arts and to advocate the regulation of the sport in New York," according to a spokesperson.

To have your voice heard, click on the picture of Serra then follow the directions to contact your representative in Albany.

In an effort to have mixed martial arts sanctioned in New York, representatives of the Ultimate Fighting Championship will visit Albany on May 6.

At 1 p.m. at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center, New York fighters Matt Serra and Matt Hamill, along with UFC staffers Marc Ratner, Lawrence Epstein and Michael Mersch will hold a press briefing, according to a source, then meet with legislators to highlight the positives that they believe MMA would bring to New York, including increased state revenue.

The last Ultimate Fighting Championship show, UFC 83 in Montreal, sold out the Bell Centre with 21,390 people at the April 19 event.

Fightin' Words readers: If mixed martial arts was sanctioned in New York, which two MMA fighters would you like to see headline a card at Madison Square Garden?

With Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's knee injury and more recently Chuck Liddell's torn hamstring, the UFC has decided to shake up its lineup for UFC 85 in London.

Looking at the reality of having a Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin main event, the UFC has announced that former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes will fight Thiago Alves in the final matchup of the O2 Arena card.

According to the UFC, the event can be seen live at 3 p.m. on June 7 in the U.S on pay-per view. With already a couple of changes to the main event, no titles on the line and rising UFC PPV prices, the UFC should consider giving this fight away for free on SpikeTV to the loyal fans that spend nearly $500 a year on their pay-per view shows.

By the way, this is not a good fight for Hughes, who is coming off a devastating loss to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Alves is hungry and confident after knocking out perpetual welterweight contender Karo Parisyan. I see Alves winning by KO/TKO.

Even though he had a great showing in his middleweight debut at UFC 83 against Charles McCarthy, England's Michael Bisping has a quick turnaround when he fights iron-chinned Chris Leben less than two months after his last fight. Look for Leben, who has two consecutive knock outs, to KO the crowd favorite in the second round.

Fightin' Words readers: Do you think that this card should be seen for free on SpikeTV, or do you feel it deserves to be on pay-per view?

Running on a Bally's treadmill or having the chance to train with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling and Muay Thai kickboxing champions -- The choice is yours.

Former UFC champion Randy Couture is coming to Long Island and he's bringing a gym with him.

The MMA legend is opening a brand new Xtreme Couture MMA & Fitness center in Centereach on May 18. Couture, who owns five other Xtreme Couture gyms across the U.S., will run a seminar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. The 6,000 square foot facility is slated to have a boxing ring, an octagonal cage, mats, and an area for weight training and cardio equipment.

Some of the coaches listed on the site include Port Jefferson product and Suffolk wrestling champion Kurt Wagner, ISKA world kickboxing champion Ken Hewski and strength and conditioning coach Jay Evers. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructors will include Grand Master Francisco Mansur and Jeff Sanford from Kioto Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, an academy with locations all around Long Island.

The gym is located at 2120-A Middle Country Road, Centereach, NY 11720. For more information, visit Xtreme Couture MMA -- New York.

According to the UFC, former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell has withdrawn from his June 7 fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 85 because of a torn right hamstring he suffered during training last week.

No replacement has yet been named for the London card. The 38-year-old Liddell (21-5) earned a unanimous decision win against Wanderlei Silva in his last bout at UFC 79 in December.

Liddell was originally slated to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, but the former Pride star ruptured the ACL in his left knee for a second time and was forced to withdraw from the card. With most of the major light heavyweights either locked into another fight or injured, Liddell, a major name and star in the sport, will not be easy to replace.