The odds of being struck by lightning
sometime in your life is about 3,000 to 1 which was about the odds Matt Serra
was given before he fought St. Pierre at UFC 69.
Considering that being struck
by lightning once does not change your odds of being struck again, the odds
of being struck twice by lightning is 9,000,000 to 1. That does not look good
for Matt Serra.
On
April 7, 2007 in Houston Texas, one of the biggest upsets in the history
MMA happened when Matt Serra knocked out Georges St. Pierre.
Georges
St. Pierre was on a tear through some of the top fighters in one of the
deepest divisions in MMA. After losing to Matt Hughes at UFC 50,
GSP defeated Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, and BJ
Penn before
earning another shot at the title where he dominated Matt Hughes.
Matt
Serra was an average lightweight before entering the TUF house and earning
his title shot. At lightweight, Serra suffered back to back losses
to Din Thomas and BJ Penn but proved to be a very game fighter having
only lost both fights by decision. Serra moved to the welterweight division
to face Karo Parisyan where he nearly pulled off his first huge upset.
The
MMA world was shocked when Serra dominated GSP. Many called it a fluke
or a lucky punch. To me, that takes away from what Matt Serra did. I
will say however, Georges St. Pierre may not have been right, but Matt
Serra was the better man that night. In post-fight interviews, St. Pierre
made excuses on his dismal performance. GSP admitted to having mental
blocks including sickness in the family and not having trained properly,
thinking that Serra did not pose a threat. The last of which pissed off
the New York loud mouth.
Since
their fight, Matt Serra has continually been running his mouth. From
saying how Georges St. Pierre has disrespected him, to how he is Rocky
and GSP is Ivan Drago for their fight at UFC 83. Don’t forget Matt,
even YOU were shocked that you won that first fight. You pointed at yourself,
then the belt and said no way, get out of here.
Matt
Serra has not fought since that night. The same can not be said of Georges
St. Pierre. GSP returned at UFC 74 against a strong up and comer
in Josh Koscheck with everyone questioning his mental game. I think Wendell
Phillips said it best when he said, “What is defeat? Nothing but
education; nothing but the first step to something better.” What
we saw at UFC 74 was an improved Georges St. Pierre. Then, a few months
later, GSP had a great Christmas gift when he was given the opportunity
to fight Matt Hughes for the interim title. For the second time, St.
Pierre dominated Matt Hughes.
Georges
St. Pierre is focused. His mental game is tough. Matt Serra and Pete
Sell are continually trying to get into Rush’s head, but I
don’t think that it is working this time. In recent interviews,
St. Pierre is heard saying “my job will be to destroy Matt Serra
and that is what I am going to do. I am going to come in the fight with
my killer instinct and go for the finish right away.” GSP is not
taking this fight lightly. The only other time I recall him talking about
his “killer instinct” is when he fought Matt Hughes at UFC
79 and we saw what happened there.
Lighting
can strike twice, but the odds are not in it’s favor. Matt
Serra can pull off this upset, but I don’t think he will. This fight
will be like Rocky, but Matt Serra is playing a different part that what
he is thinking. Serra is playing the part of Clubber Lang while Georges
St. Pierre is Rocky. GSP was complacent at the top of the welterweight
division and was not prepared for Serra. Just like Clubber Lang did to
Rocky, Serra gave St. Pierre a beat-down, but in the rematch Rocky came
out on top.
At
least for Matt Serra’s career, his mouth has got him somewhere.
He will never have a void of opponents. Right now, Matt Hughes is waiting
just around the corner for him…
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