Yes! I can’t wait!

P.S. You spelled ‘originally’ wrong.

This is a prank right?

This made my evening and I noticed it about 20 minutes ago on hughes web site. Its really sort of bad news for hughes because he had a much, much better chance of getting the title back with fighting serra but now gsp…“ouch” for hughes. Gsp is loving it because he not only gets the title sooner but he’ll most likely get another crack at serra and can avenge his loss. I imagine this fight going differently than the last but still feel hughes will lose again but think its going to be a much better fight than hughes vs serra. Serra is so over rated now with his last fight and so many feel feel he’s a serious contender and I don’t. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes! I can’t wait!

P.S. You spelled ‘originally’ wrong.

Yeah, I was typing my ass off trying to get this in print!

I just hope GSP has been training intensely lately and will be able to come in prepared for this fight. This simply made the card that much better. I’d still be very surprised if it actually happens tho.

Wow, it’s on UFC.com now too. I honestly can’t believe it. What a PPV!

This fight will answer a lot of question about there last fight because I can assure you guys hughes will not want to stand with gsp. Serra’s probably loving it deep down because and if he’s honest with himself he knows he’ll probably lose and if he truly hates hughes, hughes fighting gsp is the best christmas present he could ever hope for. The catch .22 is he might have to face a very focused angry gsp this time around which isn’t so good for him. If I was serra I would retire as champ and focus on my bjj schools because I really feel his next fight won’t go so well and he could leave on top, and permanently not answer the question if his gsp fight was a fluke.

Fantastic news. Props to GSP for “stepping up”. This card “will go throught the roof” in PPV buys.

Hell yes I am friggin pumped, but bad news for Hughes though.

Wow!!!!!!!! this is wicked news, I bet more people will actually tune in now than with the matt vs matt fight. Awesome!!!!!!!!!

I got an orgasm when I heard the news. This is better than Huges/Sera.

F*ck YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Wow, UFC 79 is shaping up to be the best damn card ever! Matt Hughes, you’ve been a dominant champion in the WW division and although ur personality stinks, one must commend u as a fighter. That being said, GSP will smash through u in the 1st or 2nd round and pave way for ur retirement…GSP will then hold the belt for three years running before moving upto 185 for new challenges.

WOW!!!! I was originally sad that this wan’t gonna be Matt/Matt, but I guess this is a pretty awesome substitute, a lot of folks will say this fight was inevitable anyway once Highes beat Serra (me not being one, I personally think Hughes/Serra would be a good fight) but hey, I think Hughes asking for the interim title was not only a smart move, but pretty legit, these two are both worthy of the WW crown IMHO

This could be Matts best chance at beating GSP. Gsp didnt plan on fighting until March or April now he only has 4 weeks to get ready for Hughes. Lets not forget Hughes is no push over. This could be some interesting strategy on Matts part.

I got an orgasm when I heard the news. This is better than Huges/Sera.

Yeah this was really weird.

I am very happy with this news. Hughes is gonna get smashed again! YAY! Also i think that Serra has a much better chance beating GSP again than Hughes mainly because Hughes would just lay on top of Serra for what would seem like an eternity. Now Serra will most likely fight GSP and have a huge mental edge because of what he did to GSP, before that fight GSP had never been beaten so badly. But if Hughes wins than that would knock GSP way down on the contendership ladder.

Hell yeah!.
Let’s officially knock Hughes out of the picture for good!

there is a god!! thank you ufc for making this right

holy shnikey!!! a must buy!!! DVR FTW!!!

YESSSSSSSSSS! Rubber Match And GSP Is Gonna Win.
GSP Best Outta Canada.

After hearing about this fight, i got a boner. Hughes goes down TKO round 2. Then he will move up and get his az whooped by silva 30 secs round 1

“I’m so excited to get this fight,” said St-Pierre.

“I’m fighting Matt Hughes for the interim title right now, and then after that I’m going to go after Serra. I’ve wanted that rematch against Serra, and this is the best scenario that can happen.”

WAR GSP !!!!!

I just took a shit for pleasure… ahh life is back to normal

This is too good to be true. I have to be dreaming, someone wake me up. War GSP!!!!

wow. this is no doubt an amazing card. best one in years.

Fantastic news. Props to GSP for “stepping up”. This card “will go throught the roof” in PPV buys.

Props to Hughes! I didn’t think he would want it but I guess he does.

This will be like Silva-Franklin II. The fight will last a little longer than the first one, but it still ends in a GSP TKO.

Unlucky for you Hughes, dildo. GSP is going to kick you into the third row. Again. And you will never get a whiff of that belt again. Then you can stomp and pout your way out of the building like you did after losing the bowling challenge, fruitcake.

Way better than Serra vs Hughes, way to go GSP for steppin up.

it’s official on the ufc website

the ufc is back in business!!!!!

I had an interview with Greg Jackson this morning and he hinted towards it…that is going to be a fantastic fight…I cannot wait.

huges want to fight gsp now because the fact that even if he will beat serra just incase that the fight will hapen on dec29,he will more likely be satisfied on beating GSP again rather than winning against serra even though matt serra has a title, because he lost badly against GSP the last time,he want s to prove that he’s better than GSP

I don’t like hughes on the show but I want him 2 win. I want to see him fight matt serra and it wont happen if GSP wins. That and I don’t really like GSP. SOO YEAH. PZZZZZZ

GSP is never out of shape. I’d doubt that will be an issue. With a loss to GSP, I wonder if Hughes will live up to his words and move up to fight Anderson Silva…

dang. I didn’t expect this to happen. Too bad for Serra though. Anyone know how long he will be down? This is gonna end up meaning two LW & two WW champs, and no HW champ. WTF is going on in the UFC?

I can speculate that Matt’s ideal plan for his last three fights are to: 1)Win the interim title against a less than optimally prepared GSP; 2)Defeat a post-injury Serra for the WW title; 3)Move up a weight class, win the MW title, then retire a living legend.

Keep dreaming Hughes…

While this is the best case scenario for Hughes to achieve these things, I don’t see him pulling off all three.

GSP is the greatest threat to the final chapter of Hughes’ WW legacy. If Hughes loses to an under-prepared GSP, he will still make the hall of fame but it will not be in a blaze of glory. It will be more like a changing of the guard.

i think its gonna be funny to see everyones posts who keeps saying gsp is gonna beat hughes after the fight, it’ll be excuse making. hughes is gonna catch a raw deal either way, if he beats gsp everyone will say its cause he was underprepared.
 i really wanna see this fight, but i just think it may be a bit thrown together and definatly wont be the fight it coulda been if both fighters were training for each other. so i do think they are letting the better fight go to waste to make up for serras injury, cause i dont think that anyone will argue that hughes vs. gsp would be a better fight anyday. anyone who actually looks at it reasonably knows that serra has no chance in hell against hughes or gsp, but in the end it doesnt matter who matt serra faces next, he will lose.

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

What the fuck!!!! Serra is getting fucked over big time. I was really looking forward to him beating Hughes ass. Now GSP is gonna whoop Hughes, and we’ll never get to see Hughes vs Serra. There fucking everything up there’s no stability.

wow the UFC finaly did something right for a change.

WARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR GSP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was the best Christmas present i could ever get. GSP Hughes and Chuck Wandy on the same card are you kidding me? Can’t wait to see GSP whoop Hughes ass a second time.

The only thing that i feel sucks about this is that Hughes or GSP get to win an interim title because Serra is injured. So does this now mean that in the LHW division they get an interim title because Rampage is hurt? He never did it when Franklin was out for 9 months. Just another way that Dana can help out one of his boys. In all actuality, He should have made Serra fight Hughes months ago, but had to try and build up excitement through his crappy tv show of wannabe fighters who will never go anywhere. Raw deal for Serra. I can tell you this, and you can disagree if you like, This would have never happened to Liddell if he was hurt. Go hoop your head Dana.

PS- iam a huge GSP fan and he is gonna murder Hughes

This is awesome news thank god I get 2 watch GSP smash through Hughes again!!!!I hate Hughes I dont respect him I dont care what he’s done he has no respect for any other fighters and I hope GSP beats his ass worse this time then he did last time. I think Hughes will retire if GSP beats him bad enough. Serra is a good fighter whether people wanna admit it or not yeah maybe his fight wit GSP was a fluke but hey give the man his props he beat a bad mother fucker ON HIS FEET!!! But honestly if GSP beats Hughes and I think he will he will beat Serra next go around GSP wont get caught like that again watch and see!!

i think its gonna be funny to see everyones posts who keeps saying gsp is gonna beat hughes after the fight, it’ll be excuse making. hughes is gonna catch a raw deal either way, if he beats gsp everyone will say its cause he was underprepared.
i really wanna see this fight, but i just think it may be a bit thrown together and definatly wont be the fight it coulda been if both fighters were training for each other. so i do think they are letting the better fight go to waste to make up for serras injury, cause i dont think that anyone will argue that hughes vs. gsp would be a better fight anyday. anyone who actually looks at it reasonably knows that serra has no chance in hell against hughes or gsp, but in the end it doesnt matter who matt serra faces next, he will lose.

No what u typed was funny dude Hughes is out of his prime and GSP is an athletic mother fucker yeah he has a month to train for the fight but when the fight gets here trust me he will be ready and if he loses then he loses he is way better shape then Hughes and anyway I’m sure GSP has been training since his last fight and lets not forget GSP and Hughes know each others styles very well.

The only thing that i feel sucks about this is that Hughes or GSP get to win an interim title because Serra is injured. So does this now mean that in the LHW division they get an interim title because Rampage is hurt? He never did it when Franklin was out for 9 months. Just another way that Dana can help out one of his boys. In all actuality, He should have made Serra fight Hughes months ago, but had to try and build up excitement through his crappy tv show of wannabe fighters who will never go anywhere. Raw deal for Serra. I can tell you this, and you can disagree if you like, This would have never happened to Liddell if he was hurt. Go hoop your head Dana.

The reason it wouldn’t have happened to Liddel was because he had several title defenses. If Liddel had got a serious injury after he won the title the first time I guarentee this woulda happened to him too. If Sera had been the champ for 3 years and defeneded his belt 4 times they wouldn’t have had an interm title fight.

gotta respect Matt for excepting this fight…..I didn’t think he would want to risk it…..

ahhhh man this is killing me!!!!! I am going to be on some frigging beach in Malaysia and I am going to have to find a way to see this fight.

GSP BY KNOCK OUT in the 1st Round!

Props to both Hughes and St. Pierre for giving fans an early Christmas present. I’m sure Dana will be laughing all the way
to the bank. At last. . .something to be thankful for!!!

OMG This is great news. After GSP handles Hughes again, he can go and beat Serra’s loud mouth ass too!

Still sour beause my boy Serra hnded him his ass.

i agree with spider style in that the build up of the hype is not goin too good..Dana prolly thought it’ll be like tito and ken…it’s rediculous the amount of time Serra has had the belt without actually defending it so this is a GOOD move by the UFC…all in all no matter who wins on dec. 29th (GSP ALL THE WAY!!!)…i wana see Serra fight both of these fighters some time down the road…

Great fight, I think this is Hughes’ best chance of beating GSP and I hope he can do it then retire…. Warrrr HUghes!!!

I don’t really like this. I think they should have put it on the January card. It doesn’t give GSP enough time to prepare. I still think he has a great chance of winning, but I think and extra few weeks wouldn’t have hurt.

Secondly, I think all of this interm title stuff is gay. Personally I think GSP beats them both, and hopefully Serra comes back quick so that GSP can be the undisputed champ. Interm is just so gay.

One question though…When GSP wins…Will he fight anyone else or will he wait for Serra to settle the score?

One final thing…Serra will fight Hughes as long as he doens’t retire. It’s just too easy to market that grudge match. It won’t be for a title and probably won’t be until the middle/end of next year, but it will happen.

F*ck YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Wow, UFC 79 is shaping up to be the best damn card ever! Matt Hughes, you’ve been a dominant champion in the WW division and although ur personality stinks, one must commend u as a fighter. That being said, GSP will smash through u in the 1st or 2nd round and pave way for ur retirement…GSP will then hold the belt for three years running before moving upto 185 for new challenges.

I agree. GSP and/ or Hendo have the best chance to move to 185 and challenge Spida. This of course after GSP dominates the WW div. Pretty tough though with Fitch, KOS, Karo, Diego, Alves, and others coming up.

gotta respect Matt for excepting this fight…..I didn’t think he would want to risk it…..

I could see Hughes risking it. He seems like a no-nonsense “yes sir” type of guy that does whatever his coach or boss puts in front of him.

On the other hand, I didn’t think Dana White would risk it. I guess he’s so upset about the quality of recent cards that he was willing to ruin his TUF 6 fight-buildup to put on a great show.

OMG this is amazing news.
GSP will win the belt !!!
Then his defense will be easy, SERRA ! LOL what a joke.
He’s gonna be holding for a veryyyyyyy long time.

I think this will be a case of if the fight stands up george wins, if it goes to ground matt wins… I can see matt shooting time after time so I hope george times a knee or kick on him, when he’s shooting.

GSP saves the day
Suprised this match was made on such short notice because
GSP could have said not enough time for him to get prepared and fight ready so big up GSP
Hughes didn’t have to accept and risk losing the fight so big up Hughes
Dana is risking losing a fight between Serra/Hughes which has been built up since Serra won the belt and through the TUF season so Big up Dana
UFC 79 WILL END THE YEAR IN A BANG

If Hughes loses to GSP again, he’s out of contention but I would like to see him fight either Fitch or Koscheck. That would be a wrestling clinic.

This is why Hughes is a real man and a real champion. Hughes never takes the easy way out, and he never ducks fights. Serra is a punk who has been trying to milk his 15 minutes of fame as much as possible. He is a loser.
Nathan, this is the fight we have been waiting for, tow real champions going head to head. Serra is a joke and should be stripped of the belt.

omg i literally got a boner when i read this. right now were looking at matt hughes vs george st pierre for the title, wanderlei silva vs chuck liddell and Lyoto Machida Vs. Rameau Sokoudjou ( and i dunno if you’ve seen sokoudjou in pride but he is quite impressive and could battle machida’s awkward counter punch style) 3 fights and still 2 more to add to the card , i must say this is definately one to not miss over previous ones those 3 fights alone sell the ppv. i cannot wait for this one. and as for serra get better bud and you can kick the “ass” of either guy since if you knocked out gsp you should have it in ya to do it again now huh ? serra shouldn’t care who he fights he’s the champ .

Serra is pathetic. He thinks he is going to beat Hughes? He is a clown. It took guts for Matt to takes this fight, and I believe he will win. Ground and pound all the way, no standing and striking.

Serra is pathetic. He thinks he is going to beat Hughes? He is a clown. It took guts for Matt to takes this fight, and I believe he will win. Ground and pound all the way, no standing and striking.

Not gonna happen, especially after he eats another kick to the dome. Sorry, much like the second Silva vs. Franklin fight, this is going to end like the previous fight. TKO Rd. 2.

Matt Hughs risks nothing…

If he did beat Serra (everyone would say it was a gimme)
If he beats GSP he still gets Serra.
If he loses and GSP beats Serra, Hughs can arrange for Serra and him to bang out a fight.(Why should the hype die, just because there is no title to put out)

I say GSP over Hughs, GSP over Serra, Serra vs Hughs, GSP over vs Fitch… Kos vs Karo, Karo vs GSP by the summer for the Title.

I think every 4 months the Champion must defend his Title… Including that dumbass show… Do they really need Title holders/contenders as coaches???

IF by some stroke of Luck Hughs does beat GSP, Serra then he will move up to MW and go for that Title. Skipping over talented fighters in his own division like Karo, Fitch, Kos, Diego and now Swick… I think vs them 4 he would run 60%.

Both GSP and Hughs really stepped up and will make it a big fight. It looks like this is a card you cant afford to miss.

All its missing is Brock Lesnars Debut.

I don’t think so, Jake. Unlike the last fight, Hughes has had plenty of time to train and prepare. Also, he is not going to make the mistake of trying to stand and strike with GSP. Hughes wins by decision or submission in later rounds.

I don’t think so, Jake. Unlike the last fight, Hughes has had plenty of time to train and prepare. Also, he is not going to make the mistake of trying to stand and strike with GSP. Hughes wins by decision or submission in later rounds.

He has a lot of time to train…..for Serra. Two totally different fighters. Hughes matched up very well with Serra, and was as good if not better in most areas. This will not be the case with GSP. Also, it wasn’t a mistake of Hughes for trying to stand with GSP, he COULD NOT TAKE HIM DOWN!! When you take someone down you are forced to stand and strike, and we all know what happened when he did that. I don’t know if you saw GSP vs. KOS, but KOS was the unanimous best wrestler in the UFC and he was dominated in that area, so what makes you think Hughes will fare any differently?

sorry when you “cant” take someone down you are forced to strike…

I would love to see Hughes attempt to take down GSP.
GSP can match power and out posture Matt to prevent the take down we have seen this. SPRaLL is excellent as well. NOW lets remember that we are seeing a new GSP a Greg Jackson GSP…

Even when Hughes has GSP down,He will get up almost at will.

GSP via Armbar. GSP via TKO. We have a couple options here, where as Hughes could win via 5 round decision, or rear naked, but i cant see him getting in position to sink it.

I would so much rather see serra vs Huhges, maybe we will still get to see it one day

I would so much rather see serra vs Huhges, maybe we will still get to see it one day

I would rather see two more talented fighters, than an over-hyped grudge match.

You know what, as much as I cant stand Huhges, this move fighting Gsp gave me a respect back for him, and Serra would have to agree, this is a big chance he is taking that he dont have to, and i beleave its for the fans, i will also be rooting for Huhges

i not sure about this although it is a great fight no doubt!! For one the ufc are losing a big fight in sera v hughes, hughes would have killed him tho, sera is a wee bawbag! I also think this will be different this time around, hughes will stick to what he is good at, dominating fighters where he is comfortable. Although there is always the danger of being caught by gsp’s classy strikes! However if hughes gets gsp to ground there is only one winner, even with gsp being fairly good on the ground!! A night of upsets in my mind in the fans minds. Liddell to beat silva and hughes to beat gsp quote me haha!!!

[quote comment=“217488”]You know what, as much as I cant stand Huhges, this move fighting Gsp gave me a respect back for him, and Serra would have to agree, this is a big chance he is taking that he dont have to, and i beleave its for the fans, i will also be rooting for Huhges[/quote

I also have respect for Hughes for taking this fight, but what about GSP taking this fight? He could have just waited for the winner, but wanted to fight, and on 5 weeks notice!!!!

I TOLD YOU GUYS that this fight would happen 2 days ago.

The GSP v Hughes fight is what should have happened anyways…the winner fights Serra the Champ.

THIS IS GREAT NEWS.

VIVA GSP!

I TOLD YOU GUYS that this fight would happen 2 days ago.

The GSP v Hughes fight is what should have happened anyways…the winner fights Serra the Champ.

THIS IS GREAT NEWS.

VIVA GSP!

Dont necessary agree with you here, hughes shouldnt have to win fight after fight to get his title shot, he dominated for 3 years gsp didnt thats why hughes got his title shot over gsp pure and simple!! That would happened in boxing or any other combat sport, hughes deserved his title shot!!

Dont necessary agree with you here, hughes shouldnt have to win fight after fight to get his title shot, he dominated for 3 years gsp didnt thats why hughes got his title shot over gsp pure and simple!! That would happened in boxing or any other combat sport, hughes deserved his title shot!!

fight after fight? He fought once to get his title shot again!!!!!

GSP and Hughes are both true warriors. Both are putting in a lot of risk for this fight and I thank the UFC for doing this. Hughes is risking his guaranteed fight with Serra while GSP is risking is guaranteed fight later next year for whoever was suppose to win the welterweight belt before this mess. My hats off to both of them.

my point is he SHOULDNT have to win fight after fight to get his title shot!

lets not argue about pointless things lets enjoy the ufc festivities its gony be a great show!! Cmon liddell haha!!

This is a perfect example of why I dont understand how people can hate on Dana.

Thanks Dana, you saved the day agian!

my point is he SHOULDNT have to win fight after fight to get his title shot!

my bad Mo…I didn’t read your post carefully enough.

GSP saves the day
Suprised this match was made on such short notice because
GSP could have said not enough time for him to get prepared and fight ready so big up GSP
Hughes didn’t have to accept and risk losing the fight so big up Hughes
Dana is risking losing a fight between Serra/Hughes which has been built up since Serra won the belt and through the TUF season so Big up Dana
UFC 79 WILL END THE YEAR IN A BANG

I agree 100%
props to- Hughesus Christ(4 excepting a harder fighter)
props to- GSP
props to- Dana White(4 quick thinking and all the risks)

About time. The UFC finally got the finger out. They’ve actually improved 79 in my opinion.

Yeah I could have seen the Matt vs. Matt fight being a boring 5-round wrestling match but now this will be an awesome fight.

They already have 3 great fights lined up, it should be crazy.

GSP handled KOS in wrestling, what makes anyone think that he wont do the same to Hughes. Standup goes to St Pierre and if he pushes the fight so does wrestling.

This is great!!! This officially has made me buy this card.

I am so excited about this!!

This is great!!! This officially has made me buy this card.

I am so excited about this!!

You wern’t going to buy this card?

what about liddell/silva or soko’s debut?(thats enough for me to buy)

Were you, at least going to watch it at a bar??

i still hope hughes gets a chance to kick serra’s ass later in 2008

This is the best senario for GSP and the UFC. I have been saying that Georges St. Pierre deserved the title shot more than Matt Hughes and now he can prove it with a win for the interum title. This also sets up several marque matchups in the future. With a win for GSP he gets a chance to avenge his loss and reclaim the title of undisputed champian. With a win Serra and Hughes will finally square offand get the match they both want (looks like neither of them want anything to do with GSP). If you havent allready figured it out I am a St. Pierre fan and I do think he will win both the interum title bout vs Matt Hughes and an undisputed title bout in the future vs Matt Serra. I do also look forward to a Hughes vs Serra fight down the road, but I don’t think it will be soon.

You wern’t going to buy this card?

what about liddell/silva or soko’s debut?(thats enough for me to buy)

Were you, at least going to watch it at a bar??

Oh yeah I was going to go to the local B-Dubs and watch it. Wanderlei vs. Chuck.. if you are not excited and don’t see that.. then the person’s MMA fanhood has to be questioned.

I just thought with Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra going off the card it left a huge void in the card. I mean it is awesome to see Soko come into the octagon, but it kinda felt like a UFC 67 card.

But now I will order this because this match will be incredible, along with Wanderlei and Soko.

Isn’t it funny how Carma works…..Serra getting this enormous ego when he got the belt and then UFC treats him like this when he gets injured….

pretty funny.

This fight will be great! Serria can lose his belt to GSP after GSP beats Hughes then lose to Hughes and be out of the UFC forever. Just like before the Ultimited Fighter.
Serria is O V E R R A T E D!

Isn’t it funny how Carma works…..Serra getting this enormous ego when he got the belt and then UFC treats him like this when he gets injured….

pretty funny.

  LOL ya I know eh, they would NEVER do this to either hughes or st.pierre, I guess everyone one knows deep down he shouldn’t be champ and isn’t really top 10.

Oh yeah I was going to go to the local B-Dubs and watch it. Wanderlei vs. Chuck.. if you are not excited and don’t see that.. then the person’s MMA fanhood has to be questioned.

I just thought with Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra going off the card it left a huge void in the card. I mean it is awesome to see Soko come into the octagon, but it kinda felt like a UFC 67 card.

But now I will order this because this match will be incredible, along with Wanderlei and Soko.

I agree there was a big void in the card.
I was still buying it, but i can understand why some people would not. At least you would still watch it at a bar.

you said it best about chuck/wandy.."
“..the person’s MMA fanhood has to be questioned”…
That is 100% right…

sorry to question you..(you know your shit)

wow. Its officially on the ufc’s site too. Crazy. I really didnt think they would risk losing the Serra vs Hughes fight.

The only thing that i feel sucks about this is that Hughes or GSP get to win an interim title because Serra is injured. So does this now mean that in the LHW division they get an interim title because Rampage is hurt? He never did it when Franklin was out for 9 months. Just another way that Dana can help out one of his boys. In all actuality, He should have made Serra fight Hughes months ago, but had to try and build up excitement through his crappy tv show of wannabe fighters who will never go anywhere. Raw deal for Serra. I can tell you this, and you can disagree if you like, This would have never happened to Liddell if he was hurt. Go hoop your head Dana.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

this seems a bad idea for GSP. 4 week training camp?

To be honest even though I’m a huge gsp fan, I don’t know about this fight, I’m worried for gsp because I don’t think hughes gave 100% in his last fight trying to get him down, other than the one attempt. Hughes is no koscheck and if he gets on top of a fighter he’s far more dangerous with submissions and ground and pound. If gsp is prepared (4 or 5 weeks is questionable) and focused he should win, but it won’t be anywhere near as one sided as there last fight in my prediction. I think gsp will be fighting off take down attempt after take down attempt and it will be much more exciting than there last fight. I think it will go back and forth and possibly be the fight of the night, but it could also end in the first with a kick to the head from gsp, who knows.

Gsp got wooped by Serra at ufc69..now because of an injury forces serra to postpone his title defense against hughes..they think gsp-hughes is for a title..no way..its a good fight..its their 3rd fight..but serra is still the reconized ww ufc champ. serra could of fought hughesb4 the tuf season but did,t cuz dana wanted to hype it up for with the tuf show..does any think if one of his was in this position he would do this…even with sherk he waited..months after the positive steroid charge to set up the interm match..just 2days and booom ww interm title match..?? yeah sure..hughes lost to gsp..gsp lost to serra..serra is the champ..out cuz of an injury..so they match up the 2 former champs..losers of the throne to says..to sooth their egos?? this should be a good fight that i want to see along with the rest of the card..but no way i think this is a title match.

I would rather see two more talented fighters, than an over-hyped grudge match.

It has nothing to do with the grudge match, I just like Matt Serra better then Hughes and Gsp

You took the words right out of my mouth.

What the fuck!!!! Serra is getting fucked over big time. I was really looking forward to him beating Hughes ass. Now GSP is gonna whoop Hughes, and we’ll never get to see Hughes vs Serra. There fucking everything up there’s no stability.

Broncos- I wouldn’t worry, if Hughes loses, Dana will still let him and Serra fight because it will still be a huge money-maker. And besides, that’s a fight the fans wanna see happen because those goes literally can’t stand each other. Which makes the fight way better.

“those goes”, I meant “those guys”

A lot of people are saying that Matt Hughes isn’t going to stabd and trade with GSP and is going to take him down. They seem to be forgetting that Hughes tryed to take St. Pierre down but couldn’t get it. GSP is recognised by many for having the best takedown defence in the game. Look at his fight with Josh Koscheck. Kos has been labeled as the best wrestler in the sport and GSP stoped his takedowns and outwrestled him. Hughes won’t be able to take St. Pierre down and will be forced to stand with him and we all know that GSP is the far superior striker.

wow..talk about dream ppv fights..its a good thing serra got injured..hope i tomorrow would be dec. 29 already..i cant wait..GSP all the way..hughes got his work cut out for him because..

(1) the only way hughes can win the match is on the ground because he has average standup game and no KO power
(2) GSP has the BEST sprawl and take down defense in the business..it will take alot to keep him down too..
(3) GSP has a mental edge because of the KO loss he had over hughes…
(4) GSP is way stronger and bigger than hughes come fight night…

the only distinct advantage of hughes is the wealth of exprience he brings(goodluck with that)..preparation may also play againt GSP..either way im giving this one to GSP 75-25

This is really the best case scenario for hughes too he is 100% guaranteed the “chance” to avenge his loss against gsp because if he lost to serra he might never have it again. Also he most likely will get to fight serra anyways because if gsp wins this one then fights serra next, gsp will most likely win and then they can set up the hughes vs serra match anyways. It seems proper to me that it’s not a title fight, because serra shouldn’t be in a title fight as far as I’m concerned, he needs to eliminate the other contenders first. Gsp is loving this because he most likely will beat hughes which will set up his chance to avenge his loss against serra, and prove to everyone how much of a fluke the fight was. Serra was most likely going to lose anyways against hughes and where he is right now I can see several losses adding up on his resume. He’s at a unnaturally high level and I see him losing to the top guys like fitch, karo and koscheck sucks to be serra, if he was smart he would retire on top and enjoy his status as champ and focus on his schools.

I hope GSp’s been training anyway so he won’t have to come in under trained. As long as he keeps the same game plan he had last time of out-striking him on the feet and keep hughes from taking him down, he’ll win this fight again. Come on St. Pierre! Don’t disappoint us again! Eye of the tiger!

WIth an interim belt being placed so suddenly does that mean Matt’s injury is a lot worse than what we think it is?

I mean, Sean Sherk was out almost a year when he was the Lightweight Champion (UFC 64-UFC 73) and there was never an interim belt.

Randy Couture who knows what he is doing.. Who knows if he is still the heavyweight champion or not?

So Maybe Serra’s injury could be career ending? Maybe it will take him up to a year or even 2 for him to come back 100% healthy.

We may never see a Hughes vs. Serra now.

I have a feeling if Matt Hughes loses his fight against GSP he is going to retire.

Even if he does not, if Matt Hughes loses, why would they let Serra and Hughes fight? It would not prove anything because GSP will be the champion so you would have to think Champion vs. Champion.

Its going to be odd.

the only bad thing about this is now we probably won’t ever see matt hughes and matt serra fight, which sucks because thats been being built up with almost a year’s worth of shit talking…but this is also good news because this is a very good replacement fight, maybe not a better fight, but better star quality and probably the fight most fans thought was going to happen anyway before gsp was upset by serra…now we as fans still get a great show to end the year, matt hughes gets a shot at redeeming himself from a loss to gsp, gsp gets a shot at the title again and with a win a shot at beating the guy who upset him and took his title…this is really a win win situation for everyone except for matt serra, but he’s not losing his belt so its not so bad, he just won’t get to fight the guy he’s wanted to fight for so long, i kind of feel bad for the guy, i was really looking forward to watching him get his opportunity to really prove himself as a champion, its too bad we’ll have to wait and now he’ll probably have to beat gsp for the second time to do that, which is going to be almost impossible…who knows, maybe gsp will beat up hughes and then beat up serra and we’ll have the real ww champ back and get to see him fight fitch or karo, and hughes and serra both coming off loses might finally get the chance to fight each other, it’ll just suck that it’ll only be a 3 round fight instead of 5…

well hopefully this will be a lesson learned and there wont be another TUF hype show that ultimately puts the actual fight in much jeopardy. gotta say it was the best possible recovery though, thank you hughes and gsp for being real fighters.

Gsp got wooped by Serra at ufc69..now because of an injury forces serra to postpone his title defense against hughes..they think gsp-hughes is for a title..no way..its a good fight..its their 3rd fight..but serra is still the reconized ww ufc champ. serra could of fought hughesb4 the tuf season but did,t cuz dana wanted to hype it up for with the tuf show..does any think if one of his was in this position he would do this…even with sherk he waited..months after the positive steroid charge to set up the interm match..just 2days and booom ww interm title match..?? yeah sure..hughes lost to gsp..gsp lost to serra..serra is the champ..out cuz of an injury..so they match up the 2 former champs..losers of the throne to says..to sooth their egos?? this should be a good fight that i want to see along with the rest of the card..but no way i think this is a title match.

WORD.

This sounds amazing and now it wont feel like another title is in waiting.
I was looking forward to serra-vs-hughes, curious to see who would win.
I was hoping for serra to win so st.pierre could avenge the loss but doing it this way also will set that up.
So I’m all for this fight taking place I don’t suspect the outcome to be any different then the last fight, st.pierre dominated and landed strikes until the enevitable ko/tko took place.
Georges=champion(interim)
Georges=Champion

He has a lot of time to train…..for Serra. Two totally different fighters. Hughes matched up very well with Serra, and was as good if not better in most areas. This will not be the case with GSP. Also, it wasn’t a mistake of Hughes for trying to stand with GSP, he COULD NOT TAKE HIM DOWN!! When you take someone down you are forced to stand and strike, and we all know what happened when he did that. I don’t know if you saw GSP vs. KOS, but KOS was the unanimous best wrestler in the UFC and he was dominated in that area, so what makes you think Hughes will fare any differently?

Kinda funny that they would call it an interim title but I like that it’s going to be 5 rounds, even though it’s likely to be over before the third. 3 rounds doesn’t seem like enough to me in big fights, I’d even like to see some 5 round non-title fights.

As for GSP vs. Hughes, it does seem like Hughes has an advantage because GSP is taking the fight on short notice, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been training. I think GSP will be ready next month and I think he will have a winning strategy, which hopefully will lead Hughes to a match with Koscheck, Parisyan or Fitch. I don’t know if Matt is going to go to 185, and I thought he wanted to fight Anderson as the WW champ, but it seems like he might want to fight Silva even if he loses to GSP. That would have to be after Silva/Hendo but it seems plausible to me.

look people don’t understand the reason for this interm belt is two fold

1. this means the fight will be 5 rounds instead of 3, (i don’t think it will make it past the third) so if the fight is really close going coming out of the 3rd then we don’t have a split decision that’s filled with controversy we get a 5 rounder that makes it easier to judge the real winner, but come on we know it’s not gonna go to a 5 round decision without a decive victor.
2. a hurniated disc will put serra out for a very long time, he may never recover fully from this (hopefully he will). but still we have to guys who are promised a title shot, and a champion out of commision, so we then have them fight each other

does anyone in retrospect have a problem with the arlovski interm belt? (then he ended up getting the real one)

Unfortunately Serra gets to keep his title for a little longer. Seems like everyone agrees this is a better matchup. Ballsy move by Hughes fighting GSP, he probably could of said he wasn’t preparing for GSP, but instead stepped up and took the fight, should be the best fight of the year. Could be advantageous for Hughes that he was already getting ready to fight at this time anyway. But, GSP is a serious threat, I give a slight edge to Hughes just because he was in training mode. Serra is gonna get smashed by whoever wins.

WORD.

A bad situation made better. I am really looking foward to this fight. I like GSP in this one. Maybe Serra vs Hughes can happen after GSP beats Serra.

I do also look forward to a Hughes vs Serra fight down the road, but I don’t think it will be soon.

It will be before 2009, unless Serra remains injured.

This is how I figure:

If Hughes beats GSP: Unlikely, but if it happened, his first defense would be against Matt Serra.

If GSP beats Hughes: Serra would have to fight GSP.
-If Serra lost, it would make sense to have him fight Hughes, since they would both be coming off of losses to GSP.
-If Serra won, they would probably give Hughes an unchallenging fight and say that he earned a shot at Serra’s title.

F*ck YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Wow, UFC 79 is shaping up to be the best damn card ever! Matt Hughes, you’ve been a dominant champion in the WW division and although ur personality stinks, one must commend u as a fighter. That being said, GSP will smash through u in the 1st or 2nd round and pave way for ur retirement…GSP will then hold the belt for three years running before moving upto 185 for new challenges.

took the words right out of my mouth. All that respect that i lost for Hughes is suddenly coming back. Takes a real man to step up in the face of uncertainty and this aint uncertainty. Hughe’s gona get a trashed. Gotta give it to him Hughes has got balls and backs up what he says. personality wise, I still would’nt wanna hang with him

I think this is now a more marketable fight but I have to feel for the fighters as they are now basically fighting for a “fake” newly created belt. Just weird how they (Dana) can just throw another belt in there and all of a sudden make it a championship fight with out the current champion holding the belt.

Injuries are part of the sport as the training and fighting have a great toll on their bodies, but to get injured and then have them make up an interim belt.

Why they wait so long for Sherk? I think he had his belt collecting dust for about a year….

With regards to GSP taking this fight on a month notice, it should not be that big of a deal as he is in awesome shape already but probably just needs to tweak his cardio a bit. I am sure Greg will have a good plan in place and have him ready to go 5 rounds. I highly doubt it will go much past the 1st round.

I wish BJ PENN was fighting on this card..

F*ck YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Wow, UFC 79 is shaping up to be the best damn card ever! Matt Hughes, you’ve been a dominant champion in the WW division and although ur personality stinks, one must commend u as a fighter. That being said, GSP will smash through u in the 1st or 2nd round and pave way for ur retirement…GSP will then hold the belt for three years running before moving upto 185 for new challenges.

 
Wow you think you’re NOSTRADAMUS, what a vision of total Bullsh*t.

I say let’s see what happens in the 3rd fight, Hughes was caught off guard by GSP, NO ONE CAN predict this fight!

Serra will beat both thier asses.

If ANYONE here is UNLUCKY it is GSP! Hughes has been training for a 5 round title fight, GSP has been training, just training, not for a fight, he was supposed to fight in March or April, this is SICK strategy by Hughes cuz 4 weeks to prepare for a 5 round fight IS NOT ENOUGH TIME, it’s a way of taking care of GSP and catching him off guard, GSP was foolish to take this fight, he must think he can do the same thing he did to Hughes last time they fought. Hughes will be far better prepared.

Serra is the champ. Whoever wins this interim thing is just a fake

GSP will beat Hughes and Serra will just kick GSP’s a** again

SERRA is the true CHAMP!!!!!

They seem to be forgetting that Hughes tryed to take St. Pierre down but couldn’t get it.

Hughes said that he didn’t try 100% to take him down. I believe that. I mean, knowing the type of takedowns Matt Hughes does, did it really look like he was trying real hard to get him down? All he did was clinch.

GSP still has a good shot a beating Hughes, and is the top Welterweight in my book, but I’m going for Hughes.

Hughes would destroy Koscheck, Karo, Swick, Sanchez, Serra, whoever. The only people I can think of to give him trouble is GSP (obviously) and maybe Fitch.

After GSP TKO’s(STRIKES) Matt Hughes in round 3, he will successfully defend his title against Matt Serra. BJ PENN will than step up to Welterweight and beat GSP and carry the Lightweight and Welterweight title at the same time.

Bye bye Matt Hughes :)
OUCH for Matt Serra if/when he recovers to fight GSP
And I don’t think BJ will beat GSP. Although GSP and BJ are probably in the top 5 lb for lb fighters on the planet (maybe lol)

mania…
any chance a mobile website might be coming soon?
that long list on the right side really effs up the phone browsing

Michael,
Serra a True Champ…

And what is a TRUE Champ?

He didn’t even defend his title since April…

He’s a good middle card fighter who became A “TRUE CHAMP” with 1 punch…

If GSP win on UFC 79 and lost again to Serra … OK! But now… he’s a lot of things but no a true champ!

Hughes was caught off guard by GSP

What do you mean? He almost got knocked out at the end of the first round, then he got dropped and finished in the second. He didn’t do a single thing to hurt GSP in that fight.

“This is why Hughes is a real man and a real champion. Hughes never takes the easy way out, and he never ducks fights. Serra is a punk who has been trying to milk his 15 minutes of fame as much as possible. He is a loser.
Nathan, this is the fight we have been waiting for, tow real champions going head to head. Serra is a joke and should be stripped of the belt. "

the only thing this proves is that hughes is picking his fights intelligently. hughes knew he would beat serra and have a rematch with his nemisis, gsp. now he gets to fight a gsp that hasnt had enough time to train properly and then fight serra after. this greatly improves his chances at winning both fights.

that said, i hope gsp crushes him and then fights serra. although i give hughes the advantage since he’s already been training and gsp hasnt. plus, gsp’s biggest enemy is his own mind.

and yes i think they are totally dicking serra over. they gave sherk a ton of time for his hearings. they let rich heal after surgery. they continue to let couture remain champion after resigning. serra hasnt even had the opportunity to be evaluated and tell ufc when he can fight again. pure poppycock (watched dodgeball this weekend) and props to gsp for accepting the fight at all.

Iinteresting night so far. Brock Lesnar is here training. He introduced himself to Matt once he saw him. Brock had a black eye and the first thing Matt said was “looks like you’ve been training here already.”

They just got done with a wrestling match a few minutes ago. Keep in mind Brock Lesnar is about 285-300 pounds and Matt is around 185-190 right now. Brock is clearly bigger and much stronger, but Matt wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. He was continually taunting and slapping Brock throughout the match. At one point Brock made the mistake of giving Matt his back, Matt swung around and got both hooks in and for a second it looked identical to his first Trigg fight. Except Brock just powerbombs himself down to the ground. Even though he had just been slammed to the ground with 300 pounds on top of him, Matt never loses his grip and withing seconds Brock Lesnar is tapping out!

Hughes said that he didn’t try 100% to take him down. I believe that. I mean, knowing the type of takedowns Matt Hughes does, did it really look like he was trying real hard to get him down? All he did was clinch.

GSP still has a good shot a beating Hughes, and is the top Welterweight in my book, but I’m going for Hughes.

Hughes would destroy Koscheck, Karo, Swick, Sanchez, Serra, whoever. The only people I can think of to give him trouble is GSP (obviously) and maybe Fitch.

I do not believe Hughes would destroy Koscheck, mos def not destroy Fitch. He may beat the 2 of them but Destroy noe. As much as I hate Koscheck. His wrestling is only rivaled by Fitch. And as far as Hughes not trying in the GSP fight that is crazy. Do you see what kind of competitor he is whenever he talks or on the Tuf show. He does not compete half way. he competes to win. He has just met his match. That is all there is to it. Hughes will loose again in Dec.

What do you mean? He almost got knocked out at the end of the first round, then he got dropped and finished in the second. He didn’t do a single thing to hurt GSP in that fight.

I mean with man love..

im with serra on this one.hope hughes win so serra can fight him.but dont fret GSP fans.after serra kicks hughes ass,GSP will be next.

GSP will beat Hughes and Serra will just kick GSP’s a** again

SERRA is the true CHAMP!!!!!
YESSSSS SIR

Wow you think you’re NOSTRADAMUS, what a vision of total Bullsh*t.

I say let’s see what happens in the 3rd fight, Hughes was caught off guard by GSP, NO ONE CAN predict this fight!

If getting your ass pumpled is getting caught off guard, then I totally agree with you.

yay?

With all of the complaining that happens on this site nobody should be complaining about this!

When Serra had to drop out due to injury Dana had to put a fight together real fast, this fight sounds pretty good to me: George St. Pierre vs Matt Hughes.

If anyone should be worried about another title shot it’s going to St. Pierre! He has 33 days to game plan and train for Matt Hughes, talk about a huge disadvantage. If St. Pierre loses he drops a long way down and is looking at maybe 2 to 3 more fights to climb back to a title shot.

As far as Hughes, he said so himself on TUF that he has maybe 2 or 3 more fights left in him anyway. But unlike the last time these two tangled Hughes will have no reason to bitch, he will go into this in better shape and ready to go into battle with a striker/grappler, Serra and St. Pierre now pose some similar weapons. Hughes has to put up or shut up because St. Pierre is at a huge disadvantage!

Serra is the Champ and until someone climbs the mountain and knocks him off an interim doesn’t mean shit!

I agree Greg

Hughes said that he didn’t try 100% to take him down. I believe that.

LOL! What, he was just being nice to GSP that night?

MAN!!!!! GSP is gonna kick Matts azz again! LMAO!!!!!! I love it!

LOL! What, he was just being nice to GSP that night?

He didnt try because he knew he couldn’t.

This is GREAT. Moves the WW title along, puts an end to the sudden halt in progress with the WW belt, and is even better than the original fight.
Is this official?

He didnt try because he knew he couldn’t.

I think everyone agrees if hughes can’t take gsp down he loses this one and loses badly. I was looking forward to hughes beating the snot out of serra and winning his title again, he’ll have an even 10 titles then but then they throw gsp into the mix, not good for hughes. I like both fighters, gsp more though and will be rooting for him but I would rather see hughes lose to gsp rather than serra.

I want to see gsp fight serra again when both are equally well prepared, I think gsp will pick serra apart on his feet the next time round, I’m looking forward to it.

No, he just had too much false confidence in his stand up, which was obvioulsly a mistake, one he is not gonna make again. GSP showed he can beat the striking matt Hughes, never was able to handle his ground game as of yet(GSP/Hughes I). This fight is a toss up to me. But still, if I had to say, I’d probably go with GSP, can’t see Hughes finishing him again.

If you watch the post fight comments from Hughes to his brother, he tells him everytime he got his arms around him he didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t think GSP will have any problem defending the takedown.

good fight way better than serra fight…. this is the real title fight. only question is how prepared is GSP..but i still think GSP is gonna win the fight and the title…

I also admire Hughes for this, calling out the toughest opponent he can, def not making it easier for himself, he’s got the true champ spirit, arrogent or not.

If you watch the post fight comments from Hughes to his brother, he tells him everytime he got his arms around him he didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t think GSP will have any problem defending the takedown.

After GSP TKO’s(STRIKES) Matt Hughes in round 3, he will successfully defend his title against Matt Serra. BJ PENN will than step up to Welterweight and beat GSP and carry the Lightweight and Welterweight title at the same time.

Yeah I hope so. At least if Matt loses.

No, he just had too much false confidence in his stand up, which was obvioulsly a mistake, one he is not gonna make again. GSP showed he can beat the striking matt Hughes, never was able to handle his ground game as of yet(GSP/Hughes I). This fight is a toss up to me. But still, if I had to say, I’d probably go with GSP, can’t see Hughes finishing him again.

Exactly. He wanted to strike, which is why he didn’t go all out with the takedowns. Seriously, watch the fight again (which I’m sure you GSP nut-huggers won’t mind doing) and tell me Hughes really tried to take him down. Not saying that Hughes will beat GSP this time around, but if he sticks to his strengths then he might.

Exactly. He wanted to strike, which is why he didn’t go all out with the takedowns. Seriously, watch the fight again (which I’m sure you GSP nut-huggers won’t mind doing) and tell me Hughes really tried to take him down. Not saying that Hughes will beat GSP this time around, but if he sticks to his strengths then he might.

How do you know he wanted to strike? He couldn’t get close enough to try because he was eating leg kicks and punches when ge got close. When he got remotely close and actually tried, GSP just shrugged him off. Me being the GSP Nuthugger(which if admiring his abilities makes me one)as you say, I have watched the fight many times and it was one of the most lopsided victories I have seen in a while. I am expecting Hughes to give 100% on his takedowns this time (lol)….what a joke.

this is a genius move

they should do it more regularly with #1 contenders if the “champion” is injured or doesnt want to fight as it forces a fight later down the line

GSP vs hughes deserves to be a 5 round fight

its a shame they cant do the same for chuck vs wanderlai

same with the vera tim sylvia fight a while back

certain fights deserve to be 5 round wars as it usually removes any doubt over the winner

I cant remember the last 5 rounder where there was any doubt over who the winner was while waiting for the decision

in regard to your last sentence, how about jackson/henderson?

good point though. maybe if the decision is not unanimous, there should be an extra round.

How do you know he wanted to strike? He couldn’t get close enough to try because he was eating leg kicks and punches when ge got close. When he got remotely close and actually tried, GSP just shrugged him off. Me being the GSP Nuthugger(which if admiring his abilities makes me one)as you say, I have watched the fight many times and it was one of the most lopsided victories I have seen in a while. I am expecting Hughes to give 100% on his takedowns this time (lol)….what a joke.

Does anyone remeber GSP out wrestle the wrestler in KOSCHECK who is suppose to better than Hughes (at wrestling)… Dec 29th say Goodnight..Hughes is going to be staring at the lights again. The he will be put into retirement when the spider knocks his block off.

Mania…totally off subject, any word on what happened at the Couture/White dinner on Tuesday? Did anything get resolved?

for all you people that say hughes would destroy kos i would like to know how?

mania…
any chance a mobile website might be coming soon?
that long list on the right side really effs up the phone browsing

Please say YES! This would be great for us Palm and Blackberry road warriors! My travels would be soooo much easier if I could read MMA news.

Does anyone remeber GSP out wrestle the wrestler in KOSCHECK who is suppose to better than Hughes (at wrestling)… Dec 29th say Goodnight..Hughes is going to be staring at the lights again. The he will be put into retirement when the spider knocks his block off.

Wrestling doesn’t mean a thing unless you have the striking/submissions to go along with it. Hughes has that, Koscheck doesn’t. And why does everyone think that Koscheck is the better wrestler than Hughes? What makes him better, and what would Koscheck, of all people, do to Hughes in a fight? He is way overrated. If GSP wasn’t trying to beat him at his own game, I would’ve liked to see him get KTFO’d.

Back to Jake, based on what Hughes said, and the fact that he (a ground n pound guy who is trying to up his stand up) tried for ONE takedown and stood up the whole time, kind of seems like he was wanting to stand and bang.

Wow thats getting ridiculously long…

Hughes said that he didn’t try 100% to take him down. I believe that.
LOL! What, he was just being nice to GSP that night?
He didnt try because he knew he couldn’t.
No, he just had too much false confidence in his stand up, which was obvioulsly a mistake, one he is not gonna make again. GSP showed he can beat the striking matt Hughes, never was able to handle his ground game as of yet(GSP/Hughes I). This fight is a toss up to me. But still, if I had to say, I’d probably go with GSP, can’t see Hughes finishing him again.
Exactly. He wanted to strike, which is why he didn’t go all out with the takedowns. Seriously, watch the fight again (which I’m sure you GSP nut-huggers won’t mind doing) and tell me Hughes really tried to take him down. Not saying that Hughes will beat GSP this time around, but if he sticks to his strengths then he might.
How do you know he wanted to strike? He couldn’t get close enough to try because he was eating leg kicks and punches when ge got close. When he got remotely close and actually tried, GSP just shrugged him off. Me being the GSP Nuthugger(which if admiring his abilities makes me one)as you say, I have watched the fight many times and it was one of the most lopsided victories I have seen in a while. I am expecting Hughes to give 100% on his takedowns this time (lol)….what a joke.
Does anyone remeber GSP out wrestle the wrestler in KOSCHECK who is suppose to better than Hughes (at wrestling)… Dec 29th say Goodnight..Hughes is going to be staring at the lights again. The he will be put into retirement when the spider knocks his block off.
Wrestling doesn’t mean a thing unless you have the striking/submissions to go along with it. Hughes has that, Koscheck doesn’t. And why does everyone think that Koscheck is the better wrestler than Hughes? What makes him better, and what would Koscheck, of all people, do to Hughes in a fight? He is way overrated. If GSP wasn’t trying to beat him at his own game, I would’ve liked to see him get KTFO’d.
Back to Jake, based on what Hughes said, and the fact that he (a ground n pound guy who is trying to up his stand up) tried for ONE takedown and stood up the whole time, kind of seems like he was wanting to stand and bang.

I believe that Hughes ISNT a better wrestler than Kos. Kos has started at a younger age and is much more athletic than Hughes. I also think that Kos is still a better wrestler than GSP. In a wrestling match Kos would manhandle GSP. And by the way I dont like Kos i just c the truth.

in regard to your last sentence, how about jackson/henderson?

unanamous decision

48-47, 49-46, and 49-46

rampage was clearly better in the later rounds

i know there are far more 3 round fights than 5 rounds but there seem to be stacks of controversial decisions in 3 but none in 5

a lot of split decisions
and bad decisions

big non title fights deserve 5 rounds as it allows a clear winner to be determined

even fights like GSP Vs Kos could of been good five rounders

3 for the undercard is fine but any split decisioon in a big fight leaves me longing for an extra couple of rounds

i totally agree, 5 rounds doesnt leave much of a grey area. plus there are so many fights that woulda been amazing to have another 2 rounds, bonner/griffin is the first one that came to my mind. anyone have any thoughts on henderson/silva?

Liddel-Jardine, Fitch-Sanchez, and pretty much all of Clay Guida’s and Tyson Griffin’s fights come to mind that would make good 5 rounders.

nate diaz is bi.

I got Henderson by championship round tko.

Matt Hughes blog states “I’m going to fight Georges St. Pierre on December 29th. I’ve got a couple reasons why I’ve made this decision and I will share those at a later time.”

Your reason is so you can try to catch him unprepared so you wont get your head kicked in again. But you will.

Just my two cents.

I believe that Hughes ISNT a better wrestler than Kos. Kos has started at a younger age and is much more athletic than Hughes. I also think that Kos is still a better wrestler than GSP. In a wrestling match Kos would manhandle GSP. And by the way I dont like Kos i just c the truth.

Did you see the GSP vs KOS fight?

Wow thats getting ridiculously long…

again, he tried for one takedown because he was eating punches and kicks….its hard to try and take someone down when you are getting kicked and punched when you are attempting takedowns. None the less, I hope he decides (as you put it) to stand and strike again, because it will be another TKO.

I believe that Hughes ISNT a better wrestler than Kos. Kos has started at a younger age and is much more athletic than Hughes. I also think that Kos is still a better wrestler than GSP. In a wrestling match Kos would manhandle GSP. And by the way I dont like Kos i just c the truth.

Did you see the GSP vs KOS fight?

Jo, couldn’t agree with you more. JRV, did you see that fight? But, who really cares…GSP owned KOS at wrestling in the UFC, and last time I checked this was a MMA forum.

What confuses me is how we call it an interim championship. That implies a vacancy. Serra hasn’t lost the belt. It is just some BS way for Dana White to boost sales and pitch a 5 round fight for Hughtes and GSP. Any so called title awarded in the fight though is purely crap. The Title is Serra’s undisputed until he is beaten and it is lost. Anything else is purely intended to sell tickets.

Anyone who thinks hughes is gonna be able to just take gsp down and ground and pound out a victory obviously didnt see their first or second fight. Hughes couldnt just take him down and even when it did hit the ground it almost imediately was back on the feet. He got caught the first fight adjusted and destroyed hughes the second fight. Hughes went for takedowns and got nowhere in the second fight. GSP will manhandly him once again. I see this fight ending in the second or early third via KO and thats if hughes can survive that long. Hughes is undeniably one of, if not, the best champion in UFC history hands down, but he has little to no chance in this fight IMO. He would have been better off waiting for Serra to recover, he might have or might not have won, I cant call it, but it would have been a much better match up for him. But what do I know? I thought GSP would walk through Serra and you see how that turned out. Anything can happen now days. The only sure bet for me is if A. Silva is involved and I wouldnt bet on or against him versus henderson. Thats why I love MMA, you just cant be too sure anymore.

Wow you think you’re NOSTRADAMUS, what a vision of total Bullsh*t.

I say let’s see what happens in the 3rd fight, Hughes was caught off guard by GSP, NO ONE CAN predict this fight!

Caught off Guard?… What planet do you live on LMAO! Rock on Hughes Nut Hugger.

How do you know he wanted to strike? He couldn’t get close enough to try because he was eating leg kicks and punches when ge got close. When he got remotely close and actually tried, GSP just shrugged him off. Me being the GSP Nuthugger(which if admiring his abilities makes me one)as you say, I have watched the fight many times and it was one of the most lopsided victories I have seen in a while. I am expecting Hughes to give 100% on his takedowns this time (lol)….what a joke.

GSP for the last 4 yrs has been working with the US Candian Olympic Team… it’s obvious now that his level of wrestling has exceeded everyone’s expections.. remember GSP VS KOS?

Either way, I think Serra’s gettin hammered by one of these guys.

Jeez guys, do we have to “quote” the whole freakin thread?

I think this will be a case of if the fight stands up george wins, if it goes to ground matt wins… I can see matt shooting time after time so I hope george times a knee or kick on him, when he’s shooting.

I hope this fight goes to the ground. Gsp owned Otto Olsen and Kos at wrestling(both better wrestlers than Hughes).Matt has beat alot of guys, because he is bigger,stronger and a better wrestler. Gsp is BIGGER,STRONGER and a BETTER WRESTLER than Hughes, not to mention he ownes him in the striking. I don’t see Hughes fairing any better than last time.

How do you know he wanted to strike? He couldn’t get close enough to try because he was eating leg kicks and punches when ge got close. When he got remotely close and actually tried, GSP just shrugged him off. Me being the GSP Nuthugger(which if admiring his abilities makes me one)as you say, I have watched the fight many times and it was one of the most lopsided victories I have seen in a while. I am expecting Hughes to give 100% on his takedowns this time (lol)….what a joke.

i think its gonna be funny to see everyones posts who keeps saying gsp is gonna beat hughes after the fight, it’ll be excuse making. hughes is gonna catch a raw deal either way, if he beats gsp everyone will say its cause he was underprepared.
i really wanna see this fight, but i just think it may be a bit thrown together and definatly wont be the fight it coulda been if both fighters were training for each other. so i do think they are letting the better fight go to waste to make up for serras injury, cause i dont think that anyone will argue that hughes vs. gsp would be a better fight anyday. anyone who actually looks at it reasonably knows that serra has no chance in hell against hughes or gsp, but in the end it doesnt matter who matt serra faces next, he will lose.

I don’t think training for Hughes is that much of an issue for GSP, he knows Matts abilities and they’ve fought twice before. Now Hughes training for GSP is a different story, the only thing GSP has to worry about is the shot or clinch… and he has proven he can handle both. I don’t know what Matt can bring that GSP hasn’t already seen or can’t handle… GSP’s wrestling ability has greatly improved.. 4 years of wrestling with the Canadian Olympic team has really brought him to a elite wrestling level MMA style.

Jeez guys, do we have to “quote” the whole freakin thread?

Thats a great idea.

After GSP TKO’s(STRIKES) Matt Hughes in round 3, he will successfully defend his title against Matt Serra. BJ PENN will than step up to Welterweight and beat GSP and carry the Lightweight and Welterweight title at the same time.

u made one mistake here how could GSP defend HIS title when the title he will have is only an Interim? Serra has the real title

Michael,
Serra a True Champ…

And what is a TRUE Champ?

He didn’t even defend his title since April…

He’s a good middle card fighter who became A “TRUE CHAMP” with 1 punch…

If GSP win on UFC 79 and lost again to Serra … OK! But now… he’s a lot of things but no a true champ!

he didnt defend it because they had this Matt v Matt thing set up they didnt film TUF till i think July or August

“This is why Hughes is a real man and a real champion. Hughes never takes the easy way out, and he never ducks fights. Serra is a punk who has been trying to milk his 15 minutes of fame as much as possible. He is a loser.
Nathan, this is the fight we have been waiting for, tow real champions going head to head. Serra is a joke and should be stripped of the belt. "

the only thing this proves is that hughes is picking his fights intelligently. hughes knew he would beat serra and have a rematch with his nemisis, gsp. now he gets to fight a gsp that hasnt had enough time to train properly and then fight serra after. this greatly improves his chances at winning both fights.

that said, i hope gsp crushes him and then fights serra. although i give hughes the advantage since he’s already been training and gsp hasnt. plus, gsp’s biggest enemy is his own mind.

and yes i think they are totally dicking serra over. they gave sherk a ton of time for his hearings. they let rich heal after surgery. they continue to let couture remain champion after resigning. serra hasnt even had the opportunity to be evaluated and tell ufc when he can fight again. pure poppycock (watched dodgeball this weekend) and props to gsp for accepting the fight at all.

if u strip serra they u have to strip Rampage, sherk or any other champ that is either hurt or in legal trouble

Iinteresting night so far. Brock Lesnar is here training. He introduced himself to Matt once he saw him. Brock had a black eye and the first thing Matt said was “looks like you’ve been training here already.”

They just got done with a wrestling match a few minutes ago. Keep in mind Brock Lesnar is about 285-300 pounds and Matt is around 185-190 right now. Brock is clearly bigger and much stronger, but Matt wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. He was continually taunting and slapping Brock throughout the match. At one point Brock made the mistake of giving Matt his back, Matt swung around and got both hooks in and for a second it looked identical to his first Trigg fight. Except Brock just powerbombs himself down to the ground. Even though he had just been slammed to the ground with 300 pounds on top of him, Matt never loses his grip and withing seconds Brock Lesnar is tapping out!

?what r u talking about???

YESSSSS SIR

 jdawg where u live i live on Long Island my cuz’s ex b/f grew up with Serra and his school in East Meadow is 2 mins from my house

Why are you complaining, so you’d rather not see this fight? Serra is still champ and can fight when he’s better, man the last welter weight title fight was in april thats crazy. If a fighter can’t fight they should have the next in line who can every time. The sport is about entertaining the fans these super long layoffs are ridiculous.

dude..I have no complaints seeing this fight..Its not a title fight..this should be 3rounds. Serra is the champ..to be in a title match you have to beat him or he has to get disqualified a la Silyvia/Barnett/ Sherk ( we’re still waiting…)So this should be a great fight but not title fight.

Why are you complaining, so you’d rather not see this fight? Serra is still champ and can fight when he’s better, man the last welter weight title fight was in april thats crazy. If a fighter can’t fight they should have the next in line who can every time. The sport is about entertaining the fans these super long layoffs are ridiculous.

dude..I have no complaints seeing this fight..Its not a title fight..this should be 3rounds. Serra is the champ..to be in a title match you have to beat him or he has to get disqualified a la Silyvia/Barnett/ Sherk ( we’re still waiting…)So this should be a great fight but not title fight.

No this whole monologue was not word. It was BS, we all suspect that Serra was lucky, and know that lightening rarely strikes the same place twice. Serra is underdog in any of the matchups. Plus this is way cooler than not having a welter weight match. Again the first speech was not word, and it was not word to say word there.

Did you listen to yourself?? “Cooler” it is..but its not a title fight.

Michael,
Serra a True Champ…

And what is a TRUE Champ?

He didn’t even defend his title since April…

He’s a good middle card fighter who became A “TRUE CHAMP” with 1 punch…

If GSP win on UFC 79 and lost again to Serra … OK! But now… he’s a lot of things but no a true champ!

..well until some1 beats him like he beat Gsp..with a few punches or whatever..he is the reconized ww ufc champ..a.k.a…the true champ..if they think Hughes/Gsp is a title fight..cuz there is no title around their waist.,

Obviously Matt Hughes has a ton of pull with Dana White and he demanded this be for the title. Everyone knows that Matt Serra is a nobody who had numerous UFC losses prior to his lucky win over GSP.

Hughes / GSP III may be called an “interim” title fight, but anyone with some sense knows that the winner of this fight is the true champ.

Hughes in round 2

As unmarketable as Anderson Silvza is, White is probally looking up to him right now for being the only title holder without a problem.

I just took a shit for pleasure… ahh life is back to normal

LMAO.. dude that was so funny..

About time. The UFC finally got the finger out. They’ve actually improved 79 in my opinion.

i think its because FEDOR FIGHT the same week end

Sera is only rooting for hughes so he doesn’t get whooped by GSP

No, he just had too much false confidence in his stand up, which was obvioulsly a mistake, one he is not gonna make again. GSP showed he can beat the striking matt Hughes, never was able to handle his ground game as of yet(GSP/Hughes I). This fight is a toss up to me. But still, if I had to say, I’d probably go with GSP, can’t see Hughes finishing him again.

I still disagree. If you believe what you just said, then you are saying Matt Hughes is an idiot, which I think he is not. He was getting REPEATEDLY beaten on the feet. You’re telling me he only realized he couldn’t hang w/ GSP on the feet AFTER the fight?

Props to everyone involved in making this happen.

Hughes for giving himself 5 weeks to untrain for Serra, and re-train for GSP.

GSP for taking it on in such short notice.

Dana for giving (most of us) fans what they want.

Serra for not whining like a lot of the people on here about how life isn’t fair.

If everybody thinks through this logically, there is no downside for making this fight happen compared to no fight at all on the card. It’s hilarious how people complained when the Matt vs. Matt fight was cancelled and still complain when the fight that makes the most sense replaces it.

Sera is only rooting for hughes so he doesn’t get whooped by GSP

What did Gsp do to Serra when they fought? Why would Serra be scared of somebody he beat in that fashion

Matt Hughes blog states “I’m going to fight Georges St. Pierre on December 29th. I’ve got a couple reasons why I’ve made this decision and I will share those at a later time.”

Your reason is so you can try to catch him unprepared so you wont get your head kicked in again. But you will.

Just my two cents.

i think your right.. he wants to get the worst GSP… an unprepard gsp.. but i think gsp has the mentality for matt hughes and does not need the 4 months of studying his aponent..

Matt Hughes comprehensivly beaten… sparking retirement.

I just can’t see a way that he can beat GSP. I know he won the 1st fight but until the submission GSP was dominating and he’s a much stronger fighter now.

Fitch is GSP’s only major competition in the division.

Could see GSP moving up a weight by mid 2009, on his UFC all access he hinted that and since no-one can touch the spider it would make sense.

Does anyone know how much GSP cuts? He looks a big W/W.

Style wise gsp and penn are hughes biggest threats both are very difficult to take down and have good stand up = bad night for hughes. I’m not saying hughes can’t win this one I just can’t see it happening. These two fighters are the only ones I see beating hughes more times than hughes beats them, not completely sold on either fitch or koscheck yet and think hughes would beat karo rather easily.

..well until some1 beats him like he beat Gsp..with a few punches or whatever..he is the reconized ww ufc champ..a.k.a…the true champ..if they think Hughes/Gsp is a title fight..cuz there is no title around their waist.,

What did Gsp do to Serra when they fought? Why would Serra be scared of somebody he beat in that fashion

What did Gsp do to Serra when they fought? Why would Serra be scared of somebody he beat in that fashion

It’s like slapping a bear and then getting away safely. Do you really want to go back and try to do it again?

matt hughes will win ground & pound if i was serra i be scared to talking crap on tv with hughes back turned and gsp won’t win this one hughes won,t keep it standing so all you pepole are wrong you,ll see i told you so frist Me the one and only 4tweentyalz