Report: Matt Serra confirms title fight with Georges St. Pierre in April

noooooooooooooo, i wanted hughes to fight him everyone knos gsp is gona lay the smackdown

Ahh my turn to catch the UFC live in my Country, sounds like it will be another Canada-vs-USA card with St pierre,Cote, Goulet, Joslin and Macdonald all good fights I’m sure will come out of this event.
I’m Excited.

man it wll be sweet to see GSP get ko-ed again and at home….sweeeeeeeeet!!!!!!WAR SERRA

As a huge GSp fan I am scared. Anything could happen. Serra knows he could beat GSP again, GSP knows Serra can stand up with him and KO him. I hope Serra has enough time to recuperate and be back to 100%. I expect to see GSP take Serra down and use alot of GNP. Serra tries to execute subs but can’t get anything. gsp by decision or 3rd or 4th round tko.

I cant wait to see GSP kick some ass in april you know i will be there for sure next time they should have it in toronto

Inless serra really has gotten that good I see GSP winning in the 1st or 2nd round!

A lot of pressure is gonna be on GSP, the question is where will he mentally be at?

I think the fight being in Canada will suit Serra, he will be the massive underdog again and we all know what happened last time.

I think since being KO’d GSP has relied to heavily on his wrestling and Serra can take advantage of that with his BJJ.

Ahh my turn to catch the UFC live in my Country, sounds like it will be another Canada-vs-USA card with St pierre,Cote, Goulet, Joslin and Macdonald all good fights I’m sure will come out of this event.
I’m Excited.

Thats great that there having a ufc event north of the border but its a little over kill having a canadian in practically every bout there are much better fighters who can be show cased on this card instead of mcdonald and goulet at least on the main card.

The ufc better have a good co-main event on this card will suck

Man…Montreal is far..even a longer trip then Vegas would be..But to watch GSP possibly win the belt in Canada, i will definately go..I wonder if the UFC will ever come more towards Western Canada,i’m sure the UFC would do well if they were to hold an event over here!

GSP was trying to assure us indirectly that you won’t see a similar fight as the first at his Hughes post fight press conference.

I truly believe him. I have alot of love for Serra too but got to be honest.

I think GSP is out to show us how it should have been done the first time.

Another Pulver vs Penn 2 scenario.

Thats great that there having a ufc event north of the border but its a little over kill having a canadian in practically every bout there are much better fighters who can be show cased on this card instead of mcdonald and goulet at least on the main card.

The ufc better have a good co-main event on this card will suck

I agree…I’d rather see a stacked card instead of another Canada vs. U.S. card. Watch they’ll have Loiseau as well!!! hahaha. My prediction – GSP by 1st or second round murder. He’s gonna tear Serra’s head off.

R.I.P. Serra

Nuff said.

man it wll be sweet to see GSP get ko-ed again and at home….sweeeeeeeeet!!!!!!WAR SERRA

Matt will get Ko’ed and we won’t hear from this clown anymore. Can’t wait. As far as Serra actually out-fighting GSP, thats a very long shot, even he knows he got lucky. But enough of that, wait untill fight day, See for yourself. No contest GSP owns the WW div. and will do what he damn well pleases with it. So it will be seeeeeeeet to see mouthpiece fall off the map.

What could possibly require moderation in my post MMA? :(

There’s no reason to have Josiln or Goulet on a card. Cote and J-Mac for sure. Maybe J-Mac vs. Bisping so he can put another TUF notch on his ledger. As for Serra-GSP, Serra can’t be counted out, especially given his earlier win over GSP. Still, I think GSP takes it handily, setting up a Serra-Hughes grudge match for September or October.

Matt will get Ko’ed and we won’t hear from this clown anymore. Can’t wait. As far as Serra actually out-fighting GSP, thats a very long shot, even he knows he got lucky. But enough of that, wait untill fight day, See for yourself. No contest GSP owns the WW div. and will do what he damn well pleases with it. So it will be seeeeeeeet to see mouthpiece fall off the map.

Yes enough trash talking.
EVERYONE that watched UFC knows GSP is the all around better fighter at every aspect.
It will be nice to see him dominate and get the belt back !
Bring on FITCH !!!!
GSP round 1 or 2 TKO

Matt will get Ko’ed and we won’t hear from this clown anymore. Can’t wait. As far as Serra actually out-fighting GSP, thats a very long shot, even he knows he got lucky. But enough of that, wait untill fight day, See for yourself. No contest GSP owns the WW div. and will do what he damn well pleases with it. So it will be seeeeeeeet to see mouthpiece fall off the map.

Could finally see a live UFC event and of course it is on April 19th, dead center of exams…YAY……I cannot wait for Serra to get worked and see everyone jump off his bandwagon as quickly as they jumped on…..Remember Buster Douglas?

Could finally see a live UFC event and of course it is on April 19th, dead center of exams…YAY……I cannot wait for Serra to get worked and see everyone jump off his bandwagon as quickly as they jumped on…..Remember Buster Douglas?

BANDWAGON!!!! HA you wanna talk about bandwagons.look at your Canadian!

if by some act of God GSP gets a win over Serra, then Serra will fight Hughes and beat him then probably a rubber match between GSP vs Serra 3

Man oh man you GSP fans kill me with this(he got lucky bullshit)he didnt get lucky.he simply out struck GSP.he stayed in the pocket and thumped your boy.know it might of turned out different he GSP wasnt ducking his head in the exchanges.Serra out boxed your so called best pound for pound fighter in the world! Ha! if in their second fight i believe if they stay standing it will happening again.if it goes to the ground GSP will get a bjj clinic.you say lucky? i say if GSP wins? that is luck!

haha, you can lie to me just stop lying to yourself. You have to be pulling my leg, just hillarious. ha

GSP has a huge advantage in this fight. He is PISSED, and a pissed GSP tears right through his opponent. For the past 9 months he had to listen to people calling him a mental midget(Sera included) when the truth is, he was just going through a very tough time in his life (2 family members were gravely ill). Listen to what he said in his last post fight interveiw, “maybe this next fight with Sera will be different, THEN PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!” He sounded real pissed and that he had something to prove. He said , “Sera is the TARGET”, and there is no doubt in my mind, that this time he’ll hit the BULLSEYE.

if by some act of God GSP gets a win over Serra, then Serra will fight Hughes and beat him then probably a rubber match between GSP vs Serra 3

What are you smoking man? Whatever it is, I want some because its got you all messed up in the head. First off, Serra’s win over GSP was 100% pure luck and GSP will dismantle him this time around. You must be giving Serra nob jobs behind closed doors.

GSP has a huge advantage in this fight. He is PISSED, and a pissed GSP tears right through his opponent. For the past 9 months he had to listen to people calling him a mental midget(Sera included) when the truth is, he was just going through a very tough time in his life (2 family members were gravely ill). Listen to what he said in his last post fight interveiw, “maybe this next fight with Sera will be different, THEN PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!” He sounded real pissed and that he had something to prove. He said , “Sera is the TARGET”, and there is no doubt in my mind, that this time he’ll hit the BULLSEYE.

Everything i’v heard on Serra’s part regarding GSp has been nothing but good things.good fighter,great guy..ect…but he does get siked out easily

What are you smoking man? Whatever it is, I want some because its got you all messed up in the head. First off, Serra’s win over GSP was 100% pure luck and GSP will dismantle him this time around. You must be giving Serra nob jobs behind closed doors.

I think since being KO’d GSP has relied to heavily on his wrestling and Serra can take advantage of that with his BJJ.

You’re right about GSP’s wrestling. If I was drawing up a gameplan for GSP, it would go like this:

Keep distance, strike from the outside, then quickly go hard inside for a Thai or Greco clinch. From there, he should keep it standing. There’s lots of things he can do from here. Of course, he can use knees, or dirty box (think Houston against Jardine, or Rampage against Eastman), or pin him against the fence and work him over with short shots like Couture does. If Serra tries to take him down from there, GSP can use his amazing takedown defence. When Serra gets out of the clinch, repeat the process. Serra’s best chance would be to land a huge shot when GSP goes in or when they break from clinch. But that’s a small window of opportunity.

Ahh my turn to catch the UFC live in my Country, sounds like it will be another Canada-vs-USA card with St pierre,Cote, Goulet, Joslin and Macdonald all good fights I’m sure will come out of this event.
I’m Excited.

Thats Exactly How I Feel Too. But If We Don Live In Quebec Then We Are Gonna Have A Hard Time Gettin Tickets For This Event. You Know How Huge mma is in quebec. They Love it and they are gonna buy all the tickets asap.

BANDWAGON!!!! HA you wanna talk about bandwagons.look at your Canadian!

????

Emelianenko, who had been the only No. 1 the Y! Sports monthly poll since its August debut, dropped to No. 4 this month. He took the top spot in the August and September polls unanimously, but only received two first-place votes this time.

UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, who has been nipping at Emelianenko’s heels for months, took over the top spot with nine of 14 first-place votes. St. Pierre vaulted from fourth to second on the strength of his dominant win over Hughes; and UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson dropped from two to three through no fault of his own.

Exiting the poll were Hughes, who was ranked ninth, and Gilbert Melendez. Melendez, who was ranked 10th, took on the tough challenge of Mitsuhiro Ishida on Ishida’s home turf, but lost via decision in Saitama. The talented youngster will no doubt be back.

Entering the poll at No. 8 is WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who had been ranked as high as No. 2, reappears in the poll at No. 10.

“If Serra loses in their second fight its because he rushed his back injury and just wants to fight.”

Come on, man- are you seriously making excuses for Serra losing before it happens? Serra said his back is recovering quickly and that he’ll be ready, you don’t need to make excuses for him.

Also, I think people are doing the same thing they did in the first fight where they know who the better fighter is so they are positive GSP will win. I’m not so positive and I think GSP will have a little trouble with Serra. Going into the first fight, I predicted a boring decision. Serra is good at slowing the fight down on his back, GSP will have a hard time submitting him, he’ll be better off going for GnP but I only see him being able to do that in short spurts. I predict GSP by decision, even though it’s five rounds and GSP just submitted Matt Hughes. Serra will simply be better on his back. Also, GSP will be a little worried about getting caught with a power punch standing. The real reason I see GSP taking the fight is he’s such a phenomenal wrestler. I think the fight is going to be much more exciting this time around than it could have been the first time; now GSP knows Serra can hurt him, but he also is coming in with a lot of confidence. Also, GSP will most likely dictate where the fight takes place. If he takes it to the ground, it will be a grappling battle. If he stays standing, it’s going to be power puncher vs. technician.

It’s going to be closer than most people are thinking, but I’m still going with GSP, by either decision or later round TKO.

no lies dude.watch the fight again! GSP got out worked. make all the excuses in the world for him. If Serra loses in their second fight its because he rushed his back injury and just wants to fight.

So, that one fight against GSP was the real GSP, and all his other dominant wins were the flukes, right? Sure. You say GSP has no excuses, and then you have Serra’s excuses lined up. Pot, meet kettle.

GSP lost fair and square, I give Serra all the credit in the world for winning. He’s a champion, and when he’s old and gray, he can proudly tell his grandkids that he was one day champion. But he’ll also tell them that the man he beat turned out to be the best WW of all time, and how he showed a lot of heart taking a beating from GSP in their 2nd match. To which his grandkids will of course say, “Fucking cool, motherfucker!!!”.

Georges loses to Matt Hughes at UFC 50 in 2004. He says that he wasn’t mentally prepared. Few believed him, but he responds by dominating Hughes the second time around. He then loses to Matt Serra at UFC 69. He says he wasn’t mentally prepared. There are still many people out there doubting him, which is when he fights his best, with something to prove. Look for him to come out loaded with confidence and rip through Matt Serra the second time around, as if to say “Don’t judge me on one fight, you monkeys.”

Serra only has two types of fans: New Yorkers and bandwagoners.

It doesnt matter. Serra will probably get “reinjured” during training about 4 weeks out.

Either that, or get knocked out in the early going so long as GSP doesnt come out timid.

no lies dude.watch the fight again! GSP got out worked. make all the excuses in the world for him. If Serra loses in their second fight its because he rushed his back injury and just wants to fight.

Irony at its best: GSP has Serra locked in a sub, Serra about to tap, with Joey Scarola ringside screaming at Serra: “Don’t you do it Mattie!!”

Cheik Kongo vs. Heath Herring at UFC 82 Pride of champions

Matt Hamil and his girlfriend are registered under a Swingers website. U all have to see this its priceless!!!!!!!

http://www.swingerads.com/sa/vp.cgi?profile=FancyKat

Irony at its best: GSP has Serra locked in a sub, Serra about to tap, with Joey Scarola ringside screaming at Serra: “Don’t you do it Mattie!!”

When was that?

if by some act of God GSP gets a win over Serra, then Serra will fight Hughes and beat him then probably a rubber match between GSP vs Serra 3

The only act of God here is that Serra won a reality show, and got a title shot.

Matt Hamil and his girlfriend are registered under a Swingers website. U all have to see this its priceless!!!!!!!

http://www.swingerads.com/sa/vp.cgi?profile=FancyKat

lol lol lol lol good find man.

lol lol lol lol good find man.

thanks

To all newer fans – This is why BJ Penn is so respected
I see a lot of newer fans (I’m not going to say TUF fans) who say that BJ is over-rated. I can even understand a little, because if i’d only been a fan for 2-3 years I may think the same thing.

So I am going to try not being condescending, and am actually going to try explaining to you why he is so highly regarded. I became a die-hard MMA fan about a year before his debut so I think I am in a good position for this.

Firstly, his BJJ game and credentials are as good as anybody in the game. This is why he is called the prodigy, the first US fighter to win the gold in Brazil.

So following his short and sensational career as a BJJ fighter he turned to MMA, and fans were already talking about him – before he had even fought. He was so highly regarded that his debut was in the UFC!

His opponent was Joey Gilbert, a gimme. BJ as expected dominated Gilbert.

Around this time Jens Pulver had just won the LW title, and the UFC was trying to get a superfight for him. So they brought in Din Thomas.

Din Thomas had fought all over the world, he was a known top class fighter and had stopped Jens Pulver previously. Not only that but he gave Caol Uno a hell of a fight in his only loss.

Din’s UFC debut was against Penn. The vast majority of people thought that this was a gimme for Din before his big rematch with Jens, and in truth that was probably Zuffa’s plans.

BJ Penn at only 22, and in only his second MMA fight KO’d Thomas in a couple of minutes. Trust my guys this was sensational at the time – Think Gonzaga-Cro Cop (only to a lesser extent because Thomas didn’t have so many nut-huggers)

The next fight for BJ was probably to punish him for ruining the UFC’s plans

It is hard to remember/believe, but at the time Uno was recognised as a top 3 fighter, and a guy who on his day could beat anybody in the world.

BJ Penn’s destruction of Uno was probably the biggest ‘coming-out party’ in MMA history. He KO’d him in 11 seconds!

As an example could you imagine a 22 year old guy with only 2 fights destroying Gomi in 11 seconds?

That is what it was like.

I liken it to Sokoudjo this year, or Shogun in 2005. A metoric rise to fame like no other.

Uno had beaten Iha, Thomas, Sato twice and he had been overwhelmed in seconds by an in-experienced kid who was supposedly a grappler.

I remember the net at this time, and BJ Penn was probably the most talked about guy in the sport.

His next fight was with Pulver, a close decision loss. However he proved he was more than a match for the champion by having a picture-perfect armbar applied as the round ended.

Even though he lost he proved that he was no flash in the pan.

His next 3 fights were underwhelming, facing Creighton, Serra and Uno in lackluster affairs. The rematch with Uno was so controversial, and I still can not fathom how he didn’t win the title in that fight. This gave fans sympathy for Penn.

At this time Penn was pissed, and vowed to prove that he was the number one guy in the world.

So he went out and on his own money put together a fight with unbeaten Takanori Gomi. You know how these days everybody makes threads “Who’d win Sherk or Kid Yamamoto?” etc

This was the same thing. A dream fight for fans between two guys in different organisations.

Unfortunately Gomi lost a decision to Hansen just over a month before the superfight, which made the fight anti-climatic.

It was still highly anticipated though, and Penn dominated Gomi. In a way which Gomi has never been dominated before or since. This is another easy thing to overlook, but directly after the Penn fight, Gomi signed for Pride and dominated for a couple of years. Just a testament to how good BJ truly is.

Following that Penn returned to the UFC and announced that he was going up in weight to fight Hughes.

Matt Hughes at that time was honestly viewed as Fedor is now. He was the top P4P guy in the world and was seen unbeatable.

Fans worldwide thought this was a huge mistake and there were threads on sherdog with titles such as ‘RIP BJ’ etc

What happened is the equivalent of Chuck Liddell moving to HW and dominating Fedor. It was unfathomable.

Writing this it is really hitting home how easy it is to forget the situations etc, how easy it is to downplay a win a few years later.

BJ lost a lot of fans with his next move – myself included. UFC warned him that as champion he could not fight in other organisations – he ignored them and went to K1.

Bang Ludwig was a rising superstar at the time, he was riding high with wins in his last two fights over Pulver and Sudo. Ludwig-Penn was the fight fans wanted to see, and they got it.

Like man vs boy, Bang was dominated and BJ Penn cemented his status as the P4P king.

In another of those easy to forget things, Rodrido Gracie was viewed as the next great Gracie. He was undefeated and coming off a huge win over Mach Sakurai.

When Penn announced he was moving up to MW to fight him people honest to god thought he was crazy.

He did though, and dominated the next great Gracie.

His next move was to crazy even for him. I remember when it was announced he moving to HW to fight undefeated sensation Machida there were people saying they were going to stop being fans of his because he was too ir-rational.

Fears were confirmed, and Penn lost. However it was a razor-thin decision that could easily have gone his way.

Think about it. Machida has dominated everybody he has fought, including brutal stoppages of Bonnar and Franklin, he is currently considered the biggest prospect in the LHW division. Yet he barely beat a guy fighting at least 50 pounds over his ideal weight. You guys still wanna say that BJ is over-rated?

I will not go into his next 3 fights because I assume that you guys know what happened.

Personally I groan everytime I read that Penn is over-rated. I he an MMA superstar, and one of the elite fighters of all time.

He has beaten 7 fighters who at the time were considered elite, Not only has he beaten them, he has dominated all but one (Serra)

Thomas
Uno
Serra
Ludwig
Gomi
Gracie
Hughes

So please next time you wanna type that Penn is over-rated, remember this post.

There is never an easier time to tell when a fan is uneducated, and when he explains that he doesn’t know why Penn is so respected."

noooooooooooooo, i wanted hughes to fight him everyone knos gsp is gona lay the smackdown

Did you like that the first time they fought when Serra laid the ^Smackdown^on Gsp???

blah blah blah

So if Serra beats him again..lighting strikes twice huh??? Their second fight will IMO not play out like the first time..If anyone completly doesn`t give Serra a chance..is dumb..call the first fight what you want 100% luck..but if GsP was then a true Champion he wouldn`t of allowed luck to upset him at ufc69…If Gsp wins its good for mma..and him and Serra would be 1 and 1..and GsP wins without luck of course..but they would be tied..and we`ll get to see Serra vs Hughes..if Serra wins it would be good MMA..the smaller underdog..shocks the world again..

If Serra befeats GsP again in 2008..will it be the upset of the year again??? I think not..cuz he TKO`d Gsp already.

i don’t care much for most of the canadian fighters currently in the ufc not named “st. peirre or cote” however, i think seeing Joslin on the card would be great. he had a tough break his first fight (thats a tough first fight for anyone), and this is the perfect opportunity to redeem himself (koscheck has had two ufc fights since).
i can’t wait for this fight!!!!

PS: as much as Serra is a mouth piece, he’s a great coach, and he’s bang on when it comes to hughes.

Even although GSP lost to Serra the last time I just can’t see it EVER happening again… Hughes even said it himself “GSP wins 9 times out of 10” when they fight.

I doubt that anyone with a shred of common sense (or moderate MMA knowledge) could seriously bet against GSP in this forthcoming match.

GSP will be nervous of Serra’s hands and VERY KEEN to redeem himself after the defeat. So he will take him down (as easily as both Koscheck and Hughes, who are much better wrestlers than Serra) and pound the shit out of him. He’ll pin him up against the fence and elbow him in the head till blood is spraying all over the Octagon.

Serra is also coming off an injury meaning he will not be FULLY 100% so its pretty much game over.

haha, you can lie to me just stop lying to yourself. You have to be pulling my leg, just hillarious. ha

It would be funny if GsP is laid out again..or gets put to sleep by the bjj master Serra.

Even although GSP lost to Serra the last time I just can’t see it EVER happening again… Hughes even said it himself “GSP wins 9 times out of 10” when they fight.

I doubt that anyone with a shred of common sense (or moderate MMA knowledge) could seriously bet against GSP in this forthcoming match.

GSP will be nervous of Serra’s hands and VERY KEEN to redeem himself after the defeat. So he will take him down (as easily as both Koscheck and Hughes, who are much better wrestlers than Serra) and pound the shit out of him. He’ll pin him up against the fence and elbow him in the head till blood is spraying all over the Octagon.

Serra is also coming off an injury meaning he will not be FULLY 100% so its pretty much game over.

In MMA anything can happen..but I don`t pay attention to what Hughes has to say. If Gsp takes Serra down…it will be Renzo Gracie blk bjj clinic on Georges.

Serra Got Lucky The First Time . Second Fight wont Be The Same. Serra Will Get Demoed.. Gsp Is Gonna Out BJJ Him. Take Him Out In His Game.

GSP WILL SUMBIT SERRA 2nd Round Armbar.

GSP trains with the Canadian National Wrestling Team. He was going to try out for the Canadian team, but with Serra getting hurt, switched gears to prepare for this fight. He’s a good enough wrestler that people must have been asking him to try out, and he felt good enough about it that he was going to do it. He must have thought he had a good chance to make the team, or I’d doubt that he would have tried. To me, that means that he’s a pretty good wrestler.

So, all of you saying that GSP would get dominated by Serra on the ground, wake up. In a jiu jitsu match, maybe, but not in MMA.

In MMA anything can happen..but I don`t pay attention to what Hughes has to say. If Gsp takes Serra down…it will be Renzo Gracie blk bjj clinic on Georges.

Well since serra hasnt had many if any wins by submission, id say he has very little chance of submitting GSP, Ive seen some of his fights and couldnt submit guys who are no where near as talented as GSP, Serras only chance to win is by a lucky punch again

Serra Got Lucky The First Time . Second Fight wont Be The Same. Serra Will Get Demoed.. Gsp Is Gonna Out BJJ Him. Take Him Out In His Game.

GSP WILL SUMBIT SERRA 2nd Round Armbar.

Serra may get lucky and unlucky in their second fight..Gsp will out Bjj Serra..what are you smoking??

I hope serra breaks gsp’s face, i hate that guy.

Gsp vs Leo Santos ADCC 2005

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VCLoV40jDKM

Serra vs Gomi

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AMlfAAsBnoQ

Emelianenko, who had been the only No. 1 the Y! Sports monthly poll since its August debut, dropped to No. 4 this month. He took the top spot in the August and September polls unanimously, but only received two first-place votes this time.
UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, who has been nipping at Emelianenko’s heels for months, took over the top spot with nine of 14 first-place votes. St. Pierre vaulted from fourth to second on the strength of his dominant win over Hughes; and UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson dropped from two to three through no fault of his own.
Exiting the poll were Hughes, who was ranked ninth, and Gilbert Melendez. Melendez, who was ranked 10th, took on the tough challenge of Mitsuhiro Ishida on Ishida’s home turf, but lost via decision in Saitama. The talented youngster will no doubt be back.
Entering the poll at No. 8 is WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who had been ranked as high as No. 2, reappears in the poll at No. 10.

Thanx John, that’s some interesting info.

PhilQNY, from your posts, you seem to be a well educated MMA guy, that’s why I can’t beleive your even trying to compare ADCC competition to an MMA fight, with different opponents no less.

There is no doubt that Serra is a great Jiu Jitsu guy, but to say that means that he’d dominate GSP on the ground in an MMA fight…well, it doesn’t work.

Gsp vs Leo Santos ADCC 2005

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VCLoV40jDKM

LOOOOL… Ive seen a lot of “phenomenal” Dean Lister grappling footage… Shame he sucks balls at MMA… What exactly is this video supposed to prove? GSP can be beaten? We all saw that when he fought Serra. We don’t really need to see it years ago in a grappling match.

GSP in a BJJ match is “GSP with boundaries” i.e. limited skill set. You need to realize that we’ve seen a very different GSP in the last few fights.

I am getting pretty fed up re-iterating what people already know… GSP is gonna smash Serra, if anything, purely to REDEEM himself after their initial encounter.

I hope serra breaks gsp’s face, i hate that guy.

GSP is a talented guy, but geez im tired of hearing about him.some say if Serra wins again it an upset….upset to who…GSP and his fans.i wouldnt see it as an upset and called it on their last fight and exspect to see to same thing happen again.

Gsp vs Leo Santos ADCC 2005

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=VCLoV40jDKM

LOOOOL… Ive seen a lot of “phenomenal” Dean Lister grappling footage… Shame he sucks balls at MMA… What exactly is this video supposed to prove? GSP can be beaten? We all saw that when he fought Serra. We don’t really need to see it years ago in a grappling match.

GSP in a BJJ match is “GSP with boundaries” i.e. limited skill set. You need to realize that we’ve seen a very different GSP in the last few fights.

I am getting pretty fed up re-iterating what people already know… GSP is gonna smash Serra, if anything, purely to REDEEM himself after their initial encounter.

I feel I was a little harsh on Dean Lister with that last post… Sorry Dean you are an amazing BJJ grappler but MMA is a VERY different game.

PhilQNY, from your posts, you seem to be a well educated MMA guy, that’s why I can’t beleive your even trying to compare ADCC competition to an MMA fight, with different opponents no less.

There is no doubt that Serra is a great Jiu Jitsu guy, but to say that means that he’d dominate GSP on the ground in an MMA fight…well, it doesn’t work.

Yo Freddy..I know that there is a big difference between UFC and ADCC..but it shows what Gsp does good..Serra does great in that one aspect of the of fight..cuz GsP does everything good..I was training BJJ at Renzo`s when Gsp was training to fight Hughes the second time. I was taking class with Gsp..the guy is stud..and super freak of an athlete ..I`m a bit bias my first BJJ classes were given to me by Matt and Nick Serra..my thing is there first fight shocked the mma world..alot of people calling it just luck..which I completly disagree.. they fought..Gsp got beat..( I thought Serra would win but not like that ..I ran into him in Atlantic City at Ring of Combat on march 16 b4 ufc 69 and wished luck..and he told me ^I`m going to bring it^which he did..This rematch I feel will not play out the same way..but I won`t believe or agree with people saying how it’s a done deal and back that Serra might as well just hand Gsp the title back..yeah sure. A fight is a fight and this what makes MMA so crazy..97% of us gave Forrest no chance against Shogun including myself..and look what happened..

What Georges brings is tuff to fight against..he knows MMA overall real good..he is the universal solider of the sport..he is young..bright..the whole nine yards..Serra 5’6 from `L.I..is a Renzo Gracie JJ expert..heavy hands..loves to fight..brings his heart to the fight all the time..not only beat GsP.but destroyed him in their first fight..as long as Serra isn`t overly confident and does what he does..he has a good chance of beating Gsp again..this fight being in Canada is double edged sword for Gsp..if he fights Serra like he fought Hughes..he will have greater chance of beating Serra..but when you get beat like that and doesn`t come out of your mind so fast..and that may play against GsP..if he goes in nervous..he`s toast..but if he goes into this fight relaxed..and focused enuff to let the fight go where it will go..he has a chance..but even if Gsp beats Serra..it doesn`t change what happened the first time they fought.

LOOOOL… Ive seen a lot of “phenomenal” Dean Lister grappling footage… Shame he sucks balls at MMA… What exactly is this video supposed to prove? GSP can be beaten? We all saw that when he fought Serra. We don’t really need to see it years ago in a grappling match.

GSP in a BJJ match is “GSP with boundaries” i.e. limited skill set. You need to realize that we’ve seen a very different GSP in the last few fights.

I am getting pretty fed up re-iterating what people already know… GSP is gonna smash Serra, if anything, purely to REDEEM himself after their initial encounter.

I feel I was a little harsh on Dean Lister with that last post… Sorry Dean you are an amazing BJJ grappler but MMA is a VERY different game.

If your fed up trying to make your point..don`t bother cuz not everyone will believe Serra will get smashed by Gsp..cuz it was the other way around in their first fight. Serra`s BJJ transends well into mma..my ADCC posts were to show just the bjj side of things..but if Serra puts his hands on Gsp again he may not need his bjj..One thing about the sport it`s built for the under dog..since the days of Royce..what is not suppose to happen..will happen..is it luck or skill or both??? It doesn`t matter..it is what it is..alot people think oh GsP arm barred Hughes..and it was a nice transition..but I don`t see that happening to Serra..after their second fight another chapter will be written, but it will re write the past.

There are too many factors to assume that the same outcome will happen this around. Serra will come in with only 3 solid months of training while rehabbing an injury, reports came in that he’s walking around at 200 lbs, at 5"6 thats huge. St.Pierre came off the Hughes fight unscathed and is already in shape. He’s training with WBA pro boxer Jachim Alchin, even though i don’t expect too much stand-up with the exception of leg kicks. I don’t care how great Serra BJJ is, GSP can end the fight inside Serra’s guard with GnP alone. St.Pierre started his career fighting in Montreal, if anything fighting at home will be more for his advantage.

To all newer fans – This is why BJ Penn is so respected
I see a lot of newer fans (I’m not going to say TUF fans) who say that BJ is over-rated. I can even understand a little, because if i’d only been a fan for 2-3 years I may think the same thing.

So I am going to try not being condescending, and am actually going to try explaining to you why he is so highly regarded. I became a die-hard MMA fan about a year before his debut so I think I am in a good position for this.

Firstly, his BJJ game and credentials are as good as anybody in the game. This is why he is called the prodigy, the first US fighter to win the gold in Brazil.

So following his short and sensational career as a BJJ fighter he turned to MMA, and fans were already talking about him – before he had even fought. He was so highly regarded that his debut was in the UFC!

His opponent was Joey Gilbert, a gimme. BJ as expected dominated Gilbert.

Around this time Jens Pulver had just won the LW title, and the UFC was trying to get a superfight for him. So they brought in Din Thomas.

Din Thomas had fought all over the world, he was a known top class fighter and had stopped Jens Pulver previously. Not only that but he gave Caol Uno a hell of a fight in his only loss.

Din’s UFC debut was against Penn. The vast majority of people thought that this was a gimme for Din before his big rematch with Jens, and in truth that was probably Zuffa’s plans.

BJ Penn at only 22, and in only his second MMA fight KO’d Thomas in a couple of minutes. Trust my guys this was sensational at the time – Think Gonzaga-Cro Cop (only to a lesser extent because Thomas didn’t have so many nut-huggers)

The next fight for BJ was probably to punish him for ruining the UFC’s plans

It is hard to remember/believe, but at the time Uno was recognised as a top 3 fighter, and a guy who on his day could beat anybody in the world.

BJ Penn’s destruction of Uno was probably the biggest ‘coming-out party’ in MMA history. He KO’d him in 11 seconds!

As an example could you imagine a 22 year old guy with only 2 fights destroying Gomi in 11 seconds?

That is what it was like.

I liken it to Sokoudjo this year, or Shogun in 2005. A metoric rise to fame like no other.

Uno had beaten Iha, Thomas, Sato twice and he had been overwhelmed in seconds by an in-experienced kid who was supposedly a grappler.

I remember the net at this time, and BJ Penn was probably the most talked about guy in the sport.

His next fight was with Pulver, a close decision loss. However he proved he was more than a match for the champion by having a picture-perfect armbar applied as the round ended.

Even though he lost he proved that he was no flash in the pan.

His next 3 fights were underwhelming, facing Creighton, Serra and Uno in lackluster affairs. The rematch with Uno was so controversial, and I still can not fathom how he didn’t win the title in that fight. This gave fans sympathy for Penn.

At this time Penn was pissed, and vowed to prove that he was the number one guy in the world.

So he went out and on his own money put together a fight with unbeaten Takanori Gomi. You know how these days everybody makes threads “Who’d win Sherk or Kid Yamamoto?” etc

This was the same thing. A dream fight for fans between two guys in different organisations.

Unfortunately Gomi lost a decision to Hansen just over a month before the superfight, which made the fight anti-climatic.

It was still highly anticipated though, and Penn dominated Gomi. In a way which Gomi has never been dominated before or since. This is another easy thing to overlook, but directly after the Penn fight, Gomi signed for Pride and dominated for a couple of years. Just a testament to how good BJ truly is.

Following that Penn returned to the UFC and announced that he was going up in weight to fight Hughes.

Matt Hughes at that time was honestly viewed as Fedor is now. He was the top P4P guy in the world and was seen unbeatable.

Fans worldwide thought this was a huge mistake and there were threads on sherdog with titles such as ‘RIP BJ’ etc

What happened is the equivalent of Chuck Liddell moving to HW and dominating Fedor. It was unfathomable.

Writing this it is really hitting home how easy it is to forget the situations etc, how easy it is to downplay a win a few years later.

BJ lost a lot of fans with his next move – myself included. UFC warned him that as champion he could not fight in other organisations – he ignored them and went to K1.

Bang Ludwig was a rising superstar at the time, he was riding high with wins in his last two fights over Pulver and Sudo. Ludwig-Penn was the fight fans wanted to see, and they got it.

Like man vs boy, Bang was dominated and BJ Penn cemented his status as the P4P king.

In another of those easy to forget things, Rodrido Gracie was viewed as the next great Gracie. He was undefeated and coming off a huge win over Mach Sakurai.

When Penn announced he was moving up to MW to fight him people honest to god thought he was crazy.

He did though, and dominated the next great Gracie.

His next move was to crazy even for him. I remember when it was announced he moving to HW to fight undefeated sensation Machida there were people saying they were going to stop being fans of his because he was too ir-rational.

Fears were confirmed, and Penn lost. However it was a razor-thin decision that could easily have gone his way.

Think about it. Machida has dominated everybody he has fought, including brutal stoppages of Bonnar and Franklin, he is currently considered the biggest prospect in the LHW division. Yet he barely beat a guy fighting at least 50 pounds over his ideal weight. You guys still wanna say that BJ is over-rated?

I will not go into his next 3 fights because I assume that you guys know what happened.

Personally I groan everytime I read that Penn is over-rated. I he an MMA superstar, and one of the elite fighters of all time.

He has beaten 7 fighters who at the time were considered elite, Not only has he beaten them, he has dominated all but one (Serra)

Thomas
Uno
Serra
Ludwig
Gomi
Gracie
Hughes

So please next time you wanna type that Penn is over-rated, remember this post.

There is never an easier time to tell when a fan is uneducated, and when he explains that he doesn’t know why Penn is so respected."

WOWW is all I have to say. I would have honestly wrote this a long time ago, but I am too impatient. I also believe you wrote some things better than I would have. I feel your pain when people question BJ Penn’s ability. Most of the people on here who hate on him are probably ignorant and do not know what he did throughout his career. A fellow mmamania.com reader named “The Anomaly” would be proud of this write-up, and I really hope he gets to read this. Well done john.

Gsp vs Leo Santos ADCC 2005

        http://youtube.com/watch?v=VCLoV40jDKM

        LOOOOL… Ive seen a lot of “phenomenal” Dean Lister grappling footage… Shame he sucks balls at MMA… What exactly is this video supposed to prove? GSP can be beaten? We all saw that when he fought Serra. We don’t really need to see it years ago in a grappling match.

        GSP in a BJJ match is “GSP with boundaries” i.e. limited skill set. You need to realize that we’ve seen a very different GSP in the last few fights.

        I am getting pretty fed up re-iterating what people already know… GSP is gonna smash Serra, if anything, purely to REDEEM himself after their initial encounter.

    I feel I was a little harsh on Dean Lister with that last post… Sorry Dean you are an amazing BJJ grappler but MMA is a VERY different game.

If your fed up trying to make your point..don`t bother cuz not everyone will believe Serra will get smashed by Gsp..cuz it was the other way around in their first fight. Serra`s BJJ transends well into mma..my ADCC posts were to show just the bjj side of things..but if Serra puts his hands on Gsp again he may not need his bjj..One thing about the sport it`s built for the under dog..since the days of Royce..what is not suppose to happen..will happen..is it luck or skill or both??? It doesn`t matter..it is what it is..alot people think oh GsP arm barred Hughes..and it was a nice transition..but I don`t see that happening to Serra..after their second fight another chapter will be written, but it will re write the past.

What’s it gonna be in the next post after GSP beats Serra… Old footage of Jon Fitch or Karo Karo Parisyan? Everyone knows that GSP is beatable… Everyone Knows that Matt Serra is beatable… instead of digging up prehistoric youtube clips, lets see history write itself for a change… GSP is an MMA fighter not a BJJ grappler… Lets see Mark Laiman competing in the Octagon…

I listened to countless MMA “critics” tell me that Koscheck was gonna destroy GSP then countless “critics” tell me that Hughes was gonna destroy GSP… Get a fucking clue… He is the future of the WW devision… And aint going nowhere!

after gsp and anderson silva run their respective trains on their divisions the ufc should have a super fight between the two of them. make them meet half way for the weight issue. everyone knows gsp is a huge 170er. would be a awesome fight. as for who would win???? i dont know. ill be rooting for silva, but gsp is no slouch, train of thought for the ufc

after gsp and anderson silva run their respective trains on their divisions the ufc should have a super fight between the two of them. make them meet half way for the weight issue. everyone knows gsp is a huge 170er. would be a awesome fight. as for who would win????

i dont know. ill be rooting for silva, but gsp is no slouch, train of thought for the ufc

I think they would meet at a catch weight 180. I like both these fighters.but if Silva runs thru Dan Henderson..Gsp won`t get thru Silva..If the fight is in the next 3 to 5 yrs.

off the subject:

Chute boxe coming to Los Angeles

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5399&zoneid=13

excited
im pulling for serra

If you were either GSP or Serra- what would your gameplan be going into the fight?

If you were either GSP or Serra- what would your gameplan be going into the fight?

GSP : Let go of what the result of the first fight was. Respect Serra`s hands. Come out aggresive..Henderson forward type pressure..Clinch. GnP..Get Serra tired..test is cardio.

Serra : You beat Gsp before and you can do it again. Same gameplan as the first fight. Put your hands on him..To beat GsP you have to give him something to respect and hurt him early..go for the kill within the first 3rounds..punch in and punch out.

I don’t care how good Matt Serra says his back feels, he won’t be as good as he was… but it really doesn’t matter now since he’s not fighting Hughes. GSP is gonna beat the living hell outta him regardless.

I’m not completely sold on Matt Serra having KO power. Sure he TKO’d GSP but that is the only TKO of his career. GSP has 5 TKO’s in his career.

I don’t care how good Matt Serra says his back feels, he won’t be as good as he was… but it really doesn’t matter now since he’s not fighting Hughes. GSP is gonna beat the living hell outta him regardless.

Yeah Sure.

PhilQ,

What about Serra using low leg kicks to set up GSP either for further strikes and for a takedown where he can use his BJJ?

Would Silva’s strategy with Franklin- a good Muay Thai clinch work for GSP? Or do you think Serra is too slippery for that?

It should be a good fight either way. GSP needs to prove that Serra’s first win was an anomaly and Serra needs to prove it wasn’t.

John, great stuff about BJ (even though it’s a bit off-topic lol). The first BJ fight I saw was his destruction of Uno. I’ve been a fan ever since, even through his losses.

If you were either GSP or Serra- what would your gameplan be going into the fight?

I already posted what I think GSP’s strategy should be.

For Serra, I would say he’d need to throw bombs, and when he’s on his back, get closed guard and work subs right away.

matt serra couldnt beat either gsp or hughes

he is by far the worst ufc champ EVER

matt serra couldnt beat either gsp or hughes

he is by far the worst ufc champ EVER

Uh, he already beat GSP. Plus, there’s been worse champions: Dave Menne and Carlos Newton.

Gsp vs Leo Santos ADCC 2005
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VCLoV40jDKM

Get with the times, 2005 is old news, Matt Hughes beat Gsp back then. Time doesn’t stand still ,some fighters get WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY BETTER as we saw with GSP OWNING Hughes TWICE!. This means nothing TODAY.

PhilQ,

What about Serra using low leg kicks to set up GSP either for further strikes and for a takedown where he can use his BJJ?

Would Silva’s strategy with Franklin- a good Muay Thai clinch work for GSP? Or do you think Serra is too slippery for that?

It should be a good fight either way. GSP needs to prove that Serra’s first win was an anomaly and Serra needs to prove it wasn’t.

Serra is hard to strike against, his size is his advantege as funny as they may sound to some..He doesn`t get enough credit for his stand up..and your right..low kicks will be part of the equation in beating Gsp again..Serra figured something out..he knows to beat Gsp you need to hurt GsP early and fast..no time to think or blink..before engaging in bjj..Serra will meet Gsp in the middle of the octagon and pick up where he left off.

I think a good catch wrestlting..grinding against the cage type of a clinch would be a good way for GsP to muscle down Serra..hurt him with clinch a la Anderson Silva. I think Gsp may want to have the same Gameplan that Hughes wanted against Serra. Wrestling slash GnP..Will GsP go balls out in a scrap..in an exchange of power and movement with Serra where he can get KO`d?? Maybe to kill off his demons..But a seasoned GsP may take sure route.

Serra`s Bjj is illmatic..but he won`t go submission blix if in the Guard or on top against Gsp..the submission will have to present itself for him take it. Gsp Athleticism is off the charts..he didn`t get sbumitted by BJ. Whatever happens I just hope to see a great fight..win or lose for Serra..that it doesn`t erase what Serra did to Gsp in their fight. GsP wins..be a champion and that doesn`t allow a opponent to get lucky..and defend the title the often..and that goes for all champs..put it on the line, don`t hide behind the line.

May the best fighter that night win.

Get with the times, 2005 is old news, Matt Hughes beat Gsp back then. Time doesn’t stand still ,some fighters get WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY BETTER as we saw with GSP OWNING Hughes TWICE!. This means nothing TODAY.

Don`t forget the past. It may get repeated.

IMHO, it would be a bad idea for Serra to stand up with GSP. Serra’s neither a good striker nor, as some of you have suggested, a power puncher. He has only on TKO in his last ten fights. Unfortunately, it was against GSP. GSP has 4 TKOs in his last 10 while fighting against better opponents. In theory, GSP should destroy him standing up… in theory. T

As for Serra’s crazy jiu-jitsu skills: Serra managed 1 submission (against someone named Kelly Dullante) in his last 10 fights while GSP submitted Matt Hughes and Frank Trigg. The terror’s best hope would be to tie GSP up and hope for a split decision. Common sense says GSP will destroy Serra, but all Serra needs is one punch.

In MMA anything can happen..but I don`t pay attention to what Hughes has to say. If Gsp takes Serra down…it will be Renzo Gracie blk bjj clinic on Georges.

You assume Sera will clinic Georges in submissions because he is a black belt. Well lets look at the FACTS. Sera’s ONLY submissions are on the first 4 CANS (3 of them are 0-1) he fought. He has NEVER submited ANYONE that is half decent. Now, on the other hand 40% of GSP’s win are by Submission, against much better quality opponents. Also it looks like GSP has really been working on his subs ( he had Hughes in 2 or 3 subs at one time). Was it a coincidence that GSP could have out struck Matt, but rather he ended the fight with an ARMBAR (the same way Matt beat him the first time). Alot of people said, that Kos and Hughes would put a clinic on GSP in wrestling and there was a CLINIC alright. GSP has something to prove and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he ups his submission percentage to 44%. He will own Sera, in any way he chooses.

you know for a while i hated bj penn,but know i just dislike him after remembering what he has done,but remember that i said this,hes scared of sherk and will get dismantled

I think they would meet at a catch weight 180. I like both these fighters.but if Silva runs thru Dan Henderson..Gsp won`t get thru Silva..If the fight is in the next 3 to 5 yrs.

All im gonna say is Revenge is best served on a cold platter…. War GSP,Serra’s loud obnoxious mouth will be put to rest…

after gsp and anderson silva run their respective trains on their divisions the ufc should have a super fight between the two of them. make them meet half way for the weight issue. everyone knows gsp is a huge 170er. would be a awesome fight. as for who would win????

i dont know. ill be rooting for silva, but gsp is no slouch, train of thought for the ufc

This would be an awesome match, I would love to see it. (would think silva wins but would be a great fight)

on the same topic as above how about rampage vs brandon vera – 215 pound catch weight. Just dreaming here but that would be a war I’d love to see….

To all newer fans – This is why BJ Penn is so respected
I see a lot of newer fans (I’m not going to say TUF fans) who say that BJ is over-rated. I can even understand a little, because if i’d only been a fan for 2-3 years I may think the same thing.

So I am going to try not being condescending, and am actually going to try explaining to you why he is so highly regarded. I became a die-hard MMA fan about a year before his debut so I think I am in a good position for this.

Firstly, his BJJ game and credentials are as good as anybody in the game. This is why he is called the prodigy, the first US fighter to win the gold in Brazil.

So following his short and sensational career as a BJJ fighter he turned to MMA, and fans were already talking about him – before he had even fought. He was so highly regarded that his debut was in the UFC!

His opponent was Joey Gilbert, a gimme. BJ as expected dominated Gilbert.

Around this time Jens Pulver had just won the LW title, and the UFC was trying to get a superfight for him. So they brought in Din Thomas.

Din Thomas had fought all over the world, he was a known top class fighter and had stopped Jens Pulver previously. Not only that but he gave Caol Uno a hell of a fight in his only loss.

Din’s UFC debut was against Penn. The vast majority of people thought that this was a gimme for Din before his big rematch with Jens, and in truth that was probably Zuffa’s plans.

BJ Penn at only 22, and in only his second MMA fight KO’d Thomas in a couple of minutes. Trust my guys this was sensational at the time – Think Gonzaga-Cro Cop (only to a lesser extent because Thomas didn’t have so many nut-huggers)

The next fight for BJ was probably to punish him for ruining the UFC’s plans

It is hard to remember/believe, but at the time Uno was recognised as a top 3 fighter, and a guy who on his day could beat anybody in the world.

BJ Penn’s destruction of Uno was probably the biggest ‘coming-out party’ in MMA history. He KO’d him in 11 seconds!

As an example could you imagine a 22 year old guy with only 2 fights destroying Gomi in 11 seconds?

That is what it was like.

I liken it to Sokoudjo this year, or Shogun in 2005. A metoric rise to fame like no other.

Uno had beaten Iha, Thomas, Sato twice and he had been overwhelmed in seconds by an in-experienced kid who was supposedly a grappler.

I remember the net at this time, and BJ Penn was probably the most talked about guy in the sport.

His next fight was with Pulver, a close decision loss. However he proved he was more than a match for the champion by having a picture-perfect armbar applied as the round ended.

Even though he lost he proved that he was no flash in the pan.

His next 3 fights were underwhelming, facing Creighton, Serra and Uno in lackluster affairs. The rematch with Uno was so controversial, and I still can not fathom how he didn’t win the title in that fight. This gave fans sympathy for Penn.

At this time Penn was pissed, and vowed to prove that he was the number one guy in the world.

So he went out and on his own money put together a fight with unbeaten Takanori Gomi. You know how these days everybody makes threads “Who’d win Sherk or Kid Yamamoto?” etc

This was the same thing. A dream fight for fans between two guys in different organisations.

Unfortunately Gomi lost a decision to Hansen just over a month before the superfight, which made the fight anti-climatic.

It was still highly anticipated though, and Penn dominated Gomi. In a way which Gomi has never been dominated before or since. This is another easy thing to overlook, but directly after the Penn fight, Gomi signed for Pride and dominated for a couple of years. Just a testament to how good BJ truly is.

Following that Penn returned to the UFC and announced that he was going up in weight to fight Hughes.

Matt Hughes at that time was honestly viewed as Fedor is now. He was the top P4P guy in the world and was seen unbeatable.

Fans worldwide thought this was a huge mistake and there were threads on sherdog with titles such as ‘RIP BJ’ etc

What happened is the equivalent of Chuck Liddell moving to HW and dominating Fedor. It was unfathomable.

Writing this it is really hitting home how easy it is to forget the situations etc, how easy it is to downplay a win a few years later.

BJ lost a lot of fans with his next move – myself included. UFC warned him that as champion he could not fight in other organisations – he ignored them and went to K1.

Bang Ludwig was a rising superstar at the time, he was riding high with wins in his last two fights over Pulver and Sudo. Ludwig-Penn was the fight fans wanted to see, and they got it.

Like man vs boy, Bang was dominated and BJ Penn cemented his status as the P4P king.

In another of those easy to forget things, Rodrido Gracie was viewed as the next great Gracie. He was undefeated and coming off a huge win over Mach Sakurai.

When Penn announced he was moving up to MW to fight him people honest to god thought he was crazy.

He did though, and dominated the next great Gracie.

His next move was to crazy even for him. I remember when it was announced he moving to HW to fight undefeated sensation Machida there were people saying they were going to stop being fans of his because he was too ir-rational.

Fears were confirmed, and Penn lost. However it was a razor-thin decision that could easily have gone his way.

Think about it. Machida has dominated everybody he has fought, including brutal stoppages of Bonnar and Franklin, he is currently considered the biggest prospect in the LHW division. Yet he barely beat a guy fighting at least 50 pounds over his ideal weight. You guys still wanna say that BJ is over-rated?

I will not go into his next 3 fights because I assume that you guys know what happened.

Personally I groan everytime I read that Penn is over-rated. I he an MMA superstar, and one of the elite fighters of all time.

He has beaten 7 fighters who at the time were considered elite, Not only has he beaten them, he has dominated all but one (Serra)

Thomas
Uno
Serra
Ludwig
Gomi
Gracie
Hughes

So please next time you wanna type that Penn is over-rated, remember this post.

There is never an easier time to tell when a fan is uneducated, and when he explains that he doesn’t know why Penn is so respected."

I totally agree. i respect for what he has accoplished and i know hes not overrated. but im no longer a fans of his to be honest im disgusted with him talking shit bot sherk and stevenson when he really has no room specially in his las 3 fights… he lost to hughes who should have been beaten when gsp fought him the first time and then he gassed and lost when he had it…then same thing with the gsp fight he dominated the first round and then he just literaly quit on the fight and me as a fan. then what he comes back and beat and outdated beaten fighter in jens pulver his time was long ago juts like hughes. and he talk shit about sherk..im not a big sherk fan but his only two carrer losses have been to hughes and gsp. to be honest i still have a small glimmer f hope for him to comeback. but if he doesnt get serious i have no doubt stevenson will over power him and force bj to gas out. and if he cant beat stevenson there is now way he can get past the rest of the contender that we all know are a hell of alot better that stevenson…guida, huerta, griffin, edgar or sherk. he may end up like spencer fisher..well deserving of a tille shot but if he cant beat edgar he cant get past any other of those fighters i just name.

Man oh man you GSP fans kill me with this(he got lucky bullshit)he didnt get lucky.he simply out struck GSP.he stayed in the pocket and thumped your boy.know it might of turned out different he GSP wasnt ducking his head in the exchanges.Serra out boxed your so called best pound for pound fighter in the world! Ha! if in their second fight i believe if they stay standing it will happening again.if it goes to the ground GSP will get a bjj clinic.you say lucky? i say if GSP wins? that is luck!

his school in east meadow is like 1 min from my house

Serra is hard to strike against, his size is his advantege as funny as they may sound to some..He doesn`t get enough credit for his stand up..and your right..low kicks will be part of the equation in beating Gsp again..Serra figured something out..he knows to beat Gsp you need to hurt GsP early and fast..no time to think or blink..before engaging in bjj..Serra will meet Gsp in the middle of the octagon and pick up where he left off.

I think a good catch wrestlting..grinding against the cage type of a clinch would be a good way for GsP to muscle down Serra..hurt him with clinch a la Anderson Silva. I think Gsp may want to have the same Gameplan that Hughes wanted against Serra. Wrestling slash GnP..Will GsP go balls out in a scrap..in an exchange of power and movement with Serra where he can get KO`d?? Maybe to kill off his demons..But a seasoned GsP may take sure route.

Serra`s Bjj is illmatic..but he won`t go submission blix if in the Guard or on top against Gsp..the submission will have to present itself for him take it. Gsp Athleticism is off the charts..he didn`t get sbumitted by BJ. Whatever happens I just hope to see a great fight..win or lose for Serra..that it doesn`t erase what Serra did to Gsp in their fight. GsP wins..be a champion and that doesn`t allow a opponent to get lucky..and defend the title the often..and that goes for all champs..put it on the line, don`t hide behind the line.

May the best fighter that night win.

even GSP said Serra was the better man and he beat his period. GSP said himself it was NOT a fluke

GSP will be GSP on this night. He will not lose to Matt Serra again. Look for GSP to win this fight in one of the first three rounds via whatever the hell he wants to do to him.

Don`t forget the past. It may get repeated.

Come on Phil, you know your stuff don’t ya?

These are competions GSP enters to improve his game to a very high level in the octagon. He beat Sean Sherk that same year.

Did GSP look gutted he lost??

Also, as I said before, Serra and GSP will not be massaging each others neck seeing who will make the first submission move.

This footage has no relevance to the GSP vs Serra fight!!!

if by some act of God GSP gets a win over Serra, then Serra will fight Hughes and beat him then probably a rubber match between GSP vs Serra 3

Matt, why don’t you just use your real name? How do you have time to post during your training?

JUST a another wast of a pay per view…gsp will win this,the only thing good about this card is next month…may…tito returns!

on the same topic as above how about rampage vs brandon vera – 215 pound catch weight. Just dreaming here but that would be a war I’d love to see….

Those two are buddies so I doubt we’d see it. This is partly the reason why Brandon wants to stay at HW even after his loss to Tim.

you know for a while i hated bj penn,but know i just dislike him after remembering what he has done,but remember that i said this,hes scared of sherk and will get dismantled

Umm, so BJ is not scared of Machida, but he’s scared of Sherk? Riiight.

on the same topic as above how about rampage vs brandon vera – 215 pound catch weight. Just dreaming here but that would be a war I’d love to see….

Or Vera just stops eating burgers and comes down to L/HW.

As a huge GSp fan I am scared. Anything could happen. Serra knows he could beat GSP again, GSP knows Serra can stand up with him and KO him. I hope Serra has enough time to recuperate and be back to 100%. I expect to see GSP take Serra down and use alot of GNP. Serra tries to execute subs but can’t get anything. gsp by decision or 3rd or 4th round tko.

I really do not think Serra’s stand up is as good as you are giving him credit for. Serra overall could not stand and exchange with GSP. He just caught GSP on the sweet spot. 9 out of 19 times GSP cuts through Serra like a hot knife through watm butter.

Or Vera just stops eating burgers and comes down to L/HW.

LOL

Come on Phil, you know your stuff don’t ya?

These are competions GSP enters to improve his game to a very high level in the octagon. He beat Sean Sherk that same year.

Did GSP look gutted he lost??

Also, as I said before, Serra and GSP will not be massaging each others neck seeing who will make the first submission move.

This footage has no relevance to the GSP vs Serra fight!!!

Your right..it`s to show the skill set of both in bjj. Plus I feel serra`s bjj really mma compatable. MMA is crazy fight game..anything can go down..but I like to dig into fighter.know where his been..see where he is going..I`m a fan of both…but that night I`ll be rooting for the under dog once again..but I just hope it will not be the upset of the year in 2008.

Or Vera just stops eating burgers and comes down to L/HW.

I think they would meet at a catch weight 180. I like both these fighters.but if Silva runs thru Dan Henderson..Gsp won`t get thru Silva..If the fight is in the next 3 to 5 yrs.

Sometimes I wonder the knowledge, or lack theroeof consistantly posted here. Some people are just plain dumb…..

I totally agree. i respect for what he has accoplished and i know hes not overrated. but im no longer a fans of his to be honest im disgusted with him talking shit bot sherk and stevenson when he really has no room specially in his las 3 fights… he lost to hughes who should have been beaten when gsp fought him the first time and then he gassed and lost when he had it…then same thing with the gsp fight he dominated the first round and then he just literaly quit on the fight and me as a fan. then what he comes back and beat and outdated beaten fighter in jens pulver his time was long ago juts like hughes. and he talk shit about sherk..im not a big sherk fan but his only two carrer losses have been to hughes and gsp. to be honest i still have a small glimmer f hope for him to comeback. but if he doesnt get serious i have no doubt stevenson will over power him and force bj to gas out. and if he cant beat stevenson there is now way he can get past the rest of the contender that we all know are a hell of alot better that stevenson…guida, huerta, griffin, edgar or sherk. he may end up like spencer fisher..well deserving of a tille shot but if he cant beat edgar he cant get past any other of those fighters i just name.

Twisted: BJ Penn has never gassed fighting at 155 in his life.
BJ likes to eat and party and he walks around a lot heavier then 155 lbs when he isnt training for a fight. In order for him to make the 155 lb weight limit he has to be in great shape, which is why BJ is so unstoppable at 155 lb, because that is the only weight in which you can absolutely count on him being in excellent condition.

I guarente BJ beats Joe, much easier then many people expect. Joe is the same fighter as Hughes he is a mini, less skilled matt hughes who will get completely outclassed by a well conditioned BJ. Thats a promise….don’t sleep on BJ’s chin…its really tough!

Silva will not run thru Henderson. No one can run thru Henderson. And why is it ‘if’ Silva wins GSP wont get thru Silva, what if Hendo runs thru Silva, does this reverse the outcome??

All three fighters brings something different to the cage. Silva is a beast as well as Henderson. GsP to me matches up better with Henderson then Silva. Even though GsP more of a striker as his biggest strentgh…Silva`s is on another level. Silva may run thru Henderson or may not..we will all find out soon. IMO Silva is the best pound per pound fighter in the world currently. All 3 are mma legends..but my money will be on Silva to rain surpreme.

I totally agree. i respect for what he has accoplished and i know hes not overrated. but im no longer a fans of his to be honest im disgusted with him talking shit bot sherk and stevenson when he really has no room specially in his las 3 fights… he lost to hughes who should have been beaten when gsp fought him the first time and then he gassed and lost when he had it…then same thing with the gsp fight he dominated the first round and then he just literaly quit on the fight and me as a fan. then what he comes back and beat and outdated beaten fighter in jens pulver his time was long ago juts like hughes. and he talk shit about sherk..im not a big sherk fan but his only two carrer losses have been to hughes and gsp. to be honest i still have a small glimmer f hope for him to comeback. but if he doesnt get serious i have no doubt stevenson will over power him and force bj to gas out. and if he cant beat stevenson there is now way he can get past the rest of the contender that we all know are a hell of alot better that stevenson…guida, huerta, griffin, edgar or sherk. he may end up like spencer fisher..well deserving of a tille shot but if he cant beat edgar he cant get past any other of those fighters i just name.

Why does everyone think BJ Penn always gasses-out. He gassed ONE TIME, and that was against GSP. Why would anyone get offended by Penn talking $hit about Sherk. Sean Sherk cheated and has to live with the consequenses. BJ has scored wins over MUCH MORE notable oppenents than Sherk has. It’s not like Penn runs his mouth and talks $hit about a lot of fighters. Sherk took the easy way out and got busted. Leave BJ Penn alone. There’s is honestly no one in the LW division that can beat PENN. And to think of the list made saying he cant beat STEVENSON, GUIDA, HUERTA, is just stOOpid.

I don’t think Clay Guida is better than Joe Stevenson.

Serra—-GSP Like em both George’s dedication is unreal gets better and better every time he comes out almost like hes got a new strength or aspect to his game. Serra I like his attitude, speak your mind thats why God gave ya one, but running a school and all thats alot of distractions not alot of time left to expand and learn. Matt whipped his ass last time plain and simple but i dont think George was on his game underestimated him or slacked or what, but that wont happen this time. Im going with GSP with a submission late in the 2nd early 3rd. like it or not thats what i think

I hate to moan but i’ve now done a whole shift at work and no new threads to post on!!!

Mania, you get me through each boring day and today i’ve actually had to actually do some work, its been tough :(

[quote comment=“257455”]I don’t think Clay Guida is better than Joe Stevenson.[/quot

joe would gnp his ass

gsp will win by tko in first round.

You really think he is gonna win? Walking around over 200 pounds at only 5 6" haha

Its going to be alot of pressure on gsp again because serra is going to be the underdog like last time and it is in gsp’s hometown

you could train for 1000 years and if you get caught you are going down….

serra beat him fair and sqaure not matter what excuses people give george….

gsp has this one easy though

Ahh my turn to catch the UFC live in my Country, sounds like it will be another Canada-vs-USA card with St pierre,Cote, Goulet, Joslin and Macdonald all good fights I’m sure will come out of this event.
I’m Excited.

those fighters arent gonna fight…they just listed natives oof canada

Serra may get lucky and unlucky in their second fight..Gsp will out Bjj Serra..what are you smoking??

 Im Smoking Some Good Chronic.

I Said Gsp Will Out bjj Serra Because Thats What Gsp Does. He Beats Guys In There Own game. He Out Worked Karo Parisyan , He Out Wrestled Koshchek & Hughes And Now Hes Gonna Out bjj Serra. You’ll See. I’d Bet Alot Of Money That Gsp Will Win By Submission.

I hope serra breaks gsp’s face, i hate that guy.

1. Its Not Gonna Happen

2. How Can Anyone Hate Gsp. He’s The Nicest Guy In MMA.

In his last two fights george didn’t do alot of striking he just out wrested his opponet.I wonder if he will try to stand with matt again

hen what he comes back and beat and outdated beaten fighter in jens pulver his time was long ago juts like hughes.

Can we stop talking about Hughes as if he’s washed up? The dude has the edge over any WW in the world not names GSP, and maybe John Fitch.

1. Its Not Gonna Happen

2. How Can Anyone Hate Gsp. He’s The Nicest Guy In MMA.

If it happened once it may happen again.

Everybody likes Gsp.

WHy isnt this updated nbc or scbs says l.m has been offered to fight TITO ORTIZ and that L.M has accepted the fight but we are awaiting to hear rom TITO what do you all think??

WHy isnt this updated nbc or scbs says l.m has been offered to fight TITO ORTIZ and that L.M has accepted the fight but we are awaiting to hear rom TITO what do you all think??

Because it’s Sunday and Mania is taking the day off.

Wow some pretty strong opinions on this page, I find it funny how people are so adamant and write how they “know” there favorite will destroy there opponent. If MMA has taught me anything is that its an unpredictable sport, I’m wrong a hell of a lot but love discussing who I think will win and why. I thought the gsp/hughes fight would be much different than it was and I was stunned how it turned out, gsp looked fantastic and hughes looked slow and lame. I really felt sorry for hughes and it kind of bothered me seeing him lose like that even though I wanted gsp to win. I now feel serra has a better chance than I previously gave him (next to 0) for some reason after reading all of phiQNY’s comments. I respect his MMA knowledge, even though I still think he’s a little biased towards serra, but I think he makes some valid points, and I’m sure he thinks I’m biased towards gsp. I don’t dislike serra for the record, he seems like a good guy, is kind of outspoken and speaks his mind and is a stand up guy. I just personally think gsp will win this time around, but don’t think it will be as easily as I previously thought, and actually think hughes is an easier fight for gsp than serra. Hughes is very strong and a good wrestler, how he wins most of his fights, you put him against gsp who’s faster, just and strong if not more so and a better wrestler and he looks lost like he doesn’t have an answer for him. Serra is a much better bjj practitioner than hughes and I think he will be much more dangerous than hughes was on his back, and he also has much better stand up than hughes,(going by serra’s last fight). If I could predict how this fight will go I would say it ends with gsp winning either by unanimous decision or by a late tko by gsp. If serra wins I can almost guarantee it will be early in the fight, most likely in the first round and by submission. I really see gsp controlling serra on the ground for the most part of this fight,tiring him out, elbowing him as he’s pushed up against the fence, and possible tkoing with ground and pound in the later rounds. This is how I see the fight going, I might be right and I might be wrong, I was right in thinking gsp would beat hughes but wrong in how it happened, you just never know with MMA.

MANIA WE REALLY NEED A NEW TOPIC. LETS GET SOME UPDATES GOIN.

Im Smoking Some Good Chronic.

I Said Gsp Will Out bjj Serra Because Thats What Gsp Does. He Beats Guys In There Own game. He Out Worked Karo Parisyan , He Out Wrestled Koshchek & Hughes And Now Hes Gonna Out bjj Serra. You’ll See. I’d Bet Alot Of Money That Gsp Will Win By Submission.

Did you think that in their first fight??

Well, I guess he is having an amazing recovery. The fact is, he probably didn’t want to fight Hughes. GSP will win by tko in round 1. Then, he fights, and gets humiliated by Hughes, then Serra becomes the footnote that no one knows or cares about.

Sometimes I wonder the knowledge, or lack theroeof consistantly posted here. Some people are just plain dumb…..

you are right…silva might not run threw henderson thats why they fight…henderson is a world class wrestler…but silva’s wrestling is under rated…silva’s jiu jitsu is also under rated and i dont know why…now they are both good in the clinch…but i dont know if henderson wants to stand in the clinch with silva…that should be where it is really interesting…silva’s thai clinch and henderon’s greco roman…then the striking…henderson is heavy handed but silva does not wate any punches…his striking is so precise…every 1 thinks since henderson fights at LHW, that silva doesnt have a chance…well i guess we will see soon…i hope my knowledge or lack there of cleared everything up

I dont know serra’s stand up looked much improved in that fight besides the fact he knocked him out, he was landing way before that.

yea silva has powerful pin piont punches and hendo throws wild bombs and they both have rock hard chins so this should be a great fight.

To all newer fans – This is why BJ Penn is so respected
I see a lot of newer fans (I’m not going to say TUF fans) who say that BJ is over-rated. I can even understand a little, because if i’d only been a fan for 2-3 years I may think the same thing.

So I am going to try not being condescending, and am actually going to try explaining to you why he is so highly regarded. I became a die-hard MMA fan about a year before his debut so I think I am in a good position for this.

Firstly, his BJJ game and credentials are as good as anybody in the game. This is why he is called the prodigy, the first US fighter to win the gold in Brazil.

So following his short and sensational career as a BJJ fighter he turned to MMA, and fans were already talking about him – before he had even fought. He was so highly regarded that his debut was in the UFC!

His opponent was Joey Gilbert, a gimme. BJ as expected dominated Gilbert.

Around this time Jens Pulver had just won the LW title, and the UFC was trying to get a superfight for him. So they brought in Din Thomas.

Din Thomas had fought all over the world, he was a known top class fighter and had stopped Jens Pulver previously. Not only that but he gave Caol Uno a hell of a fight in his only loss.

Din’s UFC debut was against Penn. The vast majority of people thought that this was a gimme for Din before his big rematch with Jens, and in truth that was probably Zuffa’s plans.

BJ Penn at only 22, and in only his second MMA fight KO’d Thomas in a couple of minutes. Trust my guys this was sensational at the time – Think Gonzaga-Cro Cop (only to a lesser extent because Thomas didn’t have so many nut-huggers)

The next fight for BJ was probably to punish him for ruining the UFC’s plans

It is hard to remember/believe, but at the time Uno was recognised as a top 3 fighter, and a guy who on his day could beat anybody in the world.

BJ Penn’s destruction of Uno was probably the biggest ‘coming-out party’ in MMA history. He KO’d him in 11 seconds!

As an example could you imagine a 22 year old guy with only 2 fights destroying Gomi in 11 seconds?

That is what it was like.

I liken it to Sokoudjo this year, or Shogun in 2005. A metoric rise to fame like no other.

Uno had beaten Iha, Thomas, Sato twice and he had been overwhelmed in seconds by an in-experienced kid who was supposedly a grappler.

I remember the net at this time, and BJ Penn was probably the most talked about guy in the sport.

His next fight was with Pulver, a close decision loss. However he proved he was more than a match for the champion by having a picture-perfect armbar applied as the round ended.

Even though he lost he proved that he was no flash in the pan.

His next 3 fights were underwhelming, facing Creighton, Serra and Uno in lackluster affairs. The rematch with Uno was so controversial, and I still can not fathom how he didn’t win the title in that fight. This gave fans sympathy for Penn.

At this time Penn was pissed, and vowed to prove that he was the number one guy in the world.

So he went out and on his own money put together a fight with unbeaten Takanori Gomi. You know how these days everybody makes threads “Who’d win Sherk or Kid Yamamoto?” etc

This was the same thing. A dream fight for fans between two guys in different organisations.

Unfortunately Gomi lost a decision to Hansen just over a month before the superfight, which made the fight anti-climatic.

It was still highly anticipated though, and Penn dominated Gomi. In a way which Gomi has never been dominated before or since. This is another easy thing to overlook, but directly after the Penn fight, Gomi signed for Pride and dominated for a couple of years. Just a testament to how good BJ truly is.

Following that Penn returned to the UFC and announced that he was going up in weight to fight Hughes.

Matt Hughes at that time was honestly viewed as Fedor is now. He was the top P4P guy in the world and was seen unbeatable.

Fans worldwide thought this was a huge mistake and there were threads on sherdog with titles such as ‘RIP BJ’ etc

What happened is the equivalent of Chuck Liddell moving to HW and dominating Fedor. It was unfathomable.

Writing this it is really hitting home how easy it is to forget the situations etc, how easy it is to downplay a win a few years later.

BJ lost a lot of fans with his next move – myself included. UFC warned him that as champion he could not fight in other organisations – he ignored them and went to K1.

Bang Ludwig was a rising superstar at the time, he was riding high with wins in his last two fights over Pulver and Sudo. Ludwig-Penn was the fight fans wanted to see, and they got it.

Like man vs boy, Bang was dominated and BJ Penn cemented his status as the P4P king.

In another of those easy to forget things, Rodrido Gracie was viewed as the next great Gracie. He was undefeated and coming off a huge win over Mach Sakurai.

When Penn announced he was moving up to MW to fight him people honest to god thought he was crazy.

He did though, and dominated the next great Gracie.

His next move was to crazy even for him. I remember when it was announced he moving to HW to fight undefeated sensation Machida there were people saying they were going to stop being fans of his because he was too ir-rational.

Fears were confirmed, and Penn lost. However it was a razor-thin decision that could easily have gone his way.

Think about it. Machida has dominated everybody he has fought, including brutal stoppages of Bonnar and Franklin, he is currently considered the biggest prospect in the LHW division. Yet he barely beat a guy fighting at least 50 pounds over his ideal weight. You guys still wanna say that BJ is over-rated?

I will not go into his next 3 fights because I assume that you guys know what happened.

Personally I groan everytime I read that Penn is over-rated. I he an MMA superstar, and one of the elite fighters of all time.

He has beaten 7 fighters who at the time were considered elite, Not only has he beaten them, he has dominated all but one (Serra)

Thomas
Uno
Serra
Ludwig
Gomi
Gracie
Hughes

So please next time you wanna type that Penn is over-rated, remember this post.

There is never an easier time to tell when a fan is uneducated, and when he explains that he doesn’t know why Penn is so respected."

Hell yeah, this post says it all man. Penn’s been my hero of MMA since 46 agasint Hughes, I admire that he epitomizes teh fighting spirit, not just the “sport” of it.
I use that Machida argument every time, poeple don’t realize it was a HEAVYWEIGHT fight, Machida was much bigger than.
Penn is teh top P4P to this day IMO, I has upset more in his career than RAndy couture, and I believe his next big one will be GSP, though at this point, BJ upsetting the odds shoudnt be that upsetting.

Well, I guess he is having an amazing recovery. The fact is, he probably didn’t want to fight Hughes. GSP will win by tko in round 1. Then, he fights, and gets humiliated by Hughes, then Serra becomes the footnote that no one knows or cares about.

All I can say is, wow. Are you watching the same UFC everyone else is? Serra has said so many times he wants to fight Hughes, he wants that fight. Wow!

1. Its Not Gonna Happen

2. How Can Anyone Hate Gsp. He’s The Nicest Guy In MMA.

Nope, that would be Randy, hands down! GSP is a nice guy, but he does his fair share of shit talking. I don’t think I have ever seen Couture shit talk anyone. He might say someone is a better match up for him than another person, but he never comes out and says he is gonna beat someone’s ass because he knows anything can happen. It only takes one punch, or one elbow and it’s over.

Wow some pretty strong opinions on this page, I find it funny how people are so adamant and write how they “know” there favorite will destroy there opponent. If MMA has taught me anything is that its an unpredictable sport, I’m wrong a hell of a lot but love discussing who I think will win and why. I thought the gsp/hughes fight would be much different than it was and I was stunned how it turned out, gsp looked fantastic and hughes looked slow and lame. I really felt sorry for hughes and it kind of bothered me seeing him lose like that even though I wanted gsp to win. I now feel serra has a better chance than I previously gave him (next to 0) for some reason after reading all of phiQNY’s comments. I respect his MMA knowledge, even though I still think he’s a little biased towards serra, but I think he makes some valid points, and I’m sure he thinks I’m biased towards gsp.

I don’t dislike serra for the record, he seems like a good guy, is kind of outspoken and speaks his mind and is a stand up guy. I just personally think gsp will win this time around, but don’t think it will be as easily as I previously thought, and actually think hughes is an easier fight for gsp than serra. Hughes is very strong and a good wrestler, how he wins most of his fights, you put him against gsp who’s faster, just and strong if not more so and a better wrestler and he looks lost like he doesn’t have an answer for him. Serra is a much better bjj practitioner than hughes and I think he will be much more dangerous than hughes was on his back, and he also has much better stand up than hughes,(going by serra’s last fight). If I could predict how this fight will go I would say it ends with gsp winning either by unanimous decision or by a late tko by gsp. If serra wins I can almost guarantee it will be early in the fight, most likely in the first round and by submission. I really see gsp controlling serra on the ground for the most part of this fight,tiring him out, elbowing him as he’s pushed up against the fence, and possible tkoing with ground and pound in the later rounds. This is how I see the fight going, I might be right and I might be wrong, I was right in thinking gsp would beat hughes but wrong in how it happened, you just never know with MMA.

  To add to my comments I think the best way to beat gsp is in the first round, all his losses or lost rounds were in the first round. Gsp is kind of a slow starter and always seems to get stronger as the rounds go on. Its kind of like he adjusts his fighting style to his opponent as the fight goes o n, I’m calling it now if gsp loses its in the first round by submission, and if gsp wins its later in the fight by tko, my predictions, I do think gsp will win though, and if it goes to a decision I think gsp wins easily especially in a 5 round fight.

I really like both Serra and GSP.

Here are some facts:

1) Serra had the element of surprise in the first fight, after many months of stand up training.

2) GSP wasn’t himself.

3) Serra got lucky with a strange punch at the back of GSP’s head.

NONE OF THESE 3 FACTORS ARE LIKELY TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT FIGHT. GSP will be on long win streak after that Hughes fight. He’s on fire.

Yeah Sure.

Don’t get all pissy, I really like Serra as a fighter and person, and think he’s highly under rated,,, his standup skills had improved when fought GSP. I think GSP under estimated Serra and got Ko’d for it. The worm has turned GSP is in his prime and his fighting state of mind is better than ever. He would have to get caught with a solid punch to lose, GSP’s chin is slightly suspect… the problem is catching it… I think that’s all anyone nowadays can hope for when fighting him.

Hell yeah, this post says it all man. Penn’s been my hero of MMA since 46 agasint Hughes, I admire that he epitomizes teh fighting spirit, not just the “sport” of it.
I use that Machida argument every time, poeple don’t realize it was a HEAVYWEIGHT fight, Machida was much bigger than.
Penn is teh top P4P to this day IMO, I has upset more in his career than RAndy couture, and I believe his next big one will be GSP, though at this point, BJ upsetting the odds shoudnt be that upsetting.

Penn’s accomplishments in MMA and competition speaks for him. Yet i have to say i feel he is a bit overated these days. Im not a newbie to MMA or BJ Penn. When i look at his wins some are impressive but then there are somewhat tainted by the fact that in the last 4 years his most notable wins are decision wins over Gracie’s. In the last 4 years the fights he really needed to win he lost. GSP, Hughes2, and he lost to Machida at Light Heavyweight(205) not Heavyweight. He fought to a draw against Uno in their last fight. I like to watch Penn fight his raw talent is amazing but without wins talent doesnt mean anything if ya want to be the champ. I think we will see more clearly where Penns future stands after his fight against Stevenson. He is still fairly young at 29 but i dont think he will ever hold the Welterweight title again. If he wins the Lightweight title i think Sherk will take it from him but then again Penn is good at beating the odds.

All I can say is, wow. Are you watching the same UFC everyone else is? Serra has said so many times he wants to fight Hughes, he wants that fight. Wow!

I’m not saying he’s scared of Hughes, but he says and what he really wants could be 2 different things.

Gsp ends tha fight violently.Serra is almost as Sherk…no one wants him to be the champion.It’s time for everything to get right.LW champion Bj penn…WW champion GSP…MW champion Anderson silva…LHW champion Rampage OR Wandy…HW champion Couture, or Arlovski, or FEDOR…in a perfect world.

Don’t get all pissy, I really like Serra as a fighter and person, and think he’s highly under rated,,, his standup skills had improved when fought GSP. I think GSP under estimated Serra and got Ko’d for it. The worm has turned GSP is in his prime and his fighting state of mind is better than ever. He would have to get caught with a solid punch to lose, GSP’s chin is slightly suspect… the problem is catching it… I think that’s all anyone nowadays can hope for when fighting him.

what the F%##c is Pissy?? at least your second comment didn’t follow the path as your first.

Ahh my turn to catch the UFC live in my Country, sounds like it will be another Canada-vs-USA card with St pierre,Cote, Goulet, Joslin and Macdonald all good fights I’m sure will come out of this event.
I’m Excited.

hey jesse i really want to go to this event could you tell me of a hotel that is close by this arena that you know

UFC WW Champion Matt Serra:

Matt Serra can’t wait to come to Canada to film the sequel to his surprise blockbuster win over Montreal’s Georges St. Pierre.

“I love it. Let it be in Canada,” says the 33-year-old Italian-American from Long Island, N.Y. after hearing the rematch is tentatively scheduled for April in Montreal.

“Let me tell you about a little movie called Rocky IV. A little Italian guy goes over to Russia to fight a big Russian experiment named Drago.

“Now, a little Italian guy goes to Canada to fight the big Canadian experiment named frickin’ GSP. It’s a monster movie. I want to be in that movie. I want to be Rocky.”

At last month’s UFC 79, St. Pierre won the interim welterweight title by beating Matt Hughes with a second-round armbar. The fight was originally intended to be between champ Serra and Hughes until Serra suffered two herniated discs and was forced to withdraw.

St. Pierre stepped up and in a surprise move, the UFC made the fight for an interim title.

Serra says he doesn’t understand why the UFC would put up an interim belt while he still owned the real thing.

“I didn’t lose anything. I didn’t dispute anything. I got injured,” says Serra, who won the welterweight belt last April over the 10-1 favoured St. Pierre. “I question the logic in it. It’s kind of insane. People close to me were insulted more than I was. Whatever, I’m not going to complain.”

Serra says he thinks the UFC sees St. Pierre as a more marketable fighter.

“The UFC wants him wearing that title as soon as possible,” says Serra. “They’re looking at him like he’s a guy who can be on top for a while.”

St. Pierre dominated former champ Hughes at UFC 79 and Serra, who’s never hidden his dislike for Hughes, was impressed.

HUGHES ‘A JERK’

“A guy like Matt Hughes, he’s tough when he’s the hammer, not the nail, and you have to be willing to put yourself in harm’s way if you want to beat GSP,” says Serra.

“I don’t think Hughes thew one punch in the entire fight.”

Following the Dec. 29 scrap, St. Pierre refused to wear the belt, saying he doesn’t consider himself the champ until he defeats Serra.

“I thought it was super classy and basically he’s doing the right thing,” says Serra.

“I like Georges, I think he’s genuinely a good guy with a good heart. You’re not going to hear me talk about him the way I talk about Matt Hughes, that’s for sure. I can’t stand Matt Hughes.”

Hughes has said he’d like to fight Serra should he lose to St. Pierre in Montreal.

“He’s very pathetic,” says Serra. “The truth is he got his ass handed to him and I hate to kick a guy when he’s down, but the guy’s such a jerk. He better pray to the J-man, to Jesus, to whoever, that I don’t lose.”

As far as his injury is concerned, Serra says he can tie his own shoes for the first time in a while and will begin training soon.

“A guy like Matt Hughes, he’s tough when he’s the hammer, not the nail, and you have to be willing to put yourself in harm’s way if you want to beat GSP,” says Serra.

I think that says it all right there. Out of all the fighters that GSP has faced, Serra had the most balls. He challenged GSP in the pocket, GSP took him up on it and got burned.

When do tickets go on sale for this in april im hurting for good tickets i live 2 min away .. ha ha . ha

Irony at its best: GSP has Serra locked in a sub, Serra about to tap, with Joey Scarola ringside screaming at Serra: “Don’t you do it Mattie!!”

Beautiful! GSP mid second.

Gsp ends tha fight violently.Serra is almost as Sherk…no one wants him to be the champion.It’s time for everything to get right.LW champion Bj penn…WW champion GSP…MW champion Anderson silva…LHW champion Rampage OR Wandy…HW champion Couture, or Arlovski, or FEDOR…in a perfect world.

MMA is not a perfect world..life isn’t perfect..there is no script that has to be followed. GsP was suppose to beat Serra..Hughes vs GsP is suppose to be a title fight..Serra shouldn’t be champ..The reign of champion goes as far as he can defend and give proof to his statis is champ. Serra is nothing like Sherk..Serra is exciting to watch..if in the stand up or on the deck..he got balls to throw down and is world class in BjJ..Anything can happen in a fight..to win a belt is a struggle and to keep a bigger one. In Canada I’ll be rooting for Serra again..not cuz I’m not a Gsp fan..cuz fun to see Dana’s face in disbelief his poster boy can’t beat Lil’ Rocky.

Why does everyone think BJ Penn always gasses-out. He gassed ONE TIME, and that was against GSP. Why would anyone get offended by Penn talking $hit about Sherk. Sean Sherk cheated and has to live with the consequenses. BJ has scored wins over MUCH MORE notable oppenents than Sherk has. It’s not like Penn runs his mouth and talks $hit about a lot of fighters. Sherk took the easy way out and got busted. Leave BJ Penn alone. There’s is honestly no one in the LW division that can beat PENN. And to think of the list made saying he cant beat STEVENSON, GUIDA, HUERTA, is just stOOpid.

He actually gassed with Matt Hughes

BRING HUSTON ALEXANDER TO CANADA TOO ..

Serra by KO if he get lucky and clips GSP in the back of the head again.

Serra by KO if he get lucky and clips GSP in the back of the head again.

or Gsp puts his head again..and slips on a banana peel..or just if Serra is lucky enough to get out on the right side of the bed..takes that crap at the right time..so he feels light. Maybe Serra will get lucky again..Matt may be lucky to have the same balls to bring it to GsP again..Serra is one lucky fighter..tell me about it.

MMA is not a perfect world..life isn’t perfect..there is no script that has to be followed. GsP was suppose to beat Serra..Hughes vs GsP is suppose to be a title fight..Serra shouldn’t be champ..The reign of champion goes as far as he can defend and give proof to his statis is champ. Serra is nothing like Sherk..Serra is exciting to watch..if in the stand up or on the deck..he got balls to throw down and is world class in BjJ..Anything can happen in a fight..to win a belt is a struggle and to keep a bigger one. In Canada I’ll be rooting for Serra again..not cuz I’m not a Gsp fan..cuz fun to see Dana’s face in disbelief his poster boy can’t beat Lil’ Rocky.

I could not agree with you more. Especially the part about Dana’s face. That is a beautiful sight to see!

Emelianenko, who had been the only No. 1 the Y! Sports monthly poll since its August debut, dropped to No. 4 this month. He took the top spot in the August and September polls unanimously, but only received two first-place votes this time.
UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, who has been nipping at Emelianenko’s heels for months, took over the top spot with nine of 14 first-place votes. St. Pierre vaulted from fourth to second on the strength of his dominant win over Hughes; and UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson dropped from two to three through no fault of his own.
Exiting the poll were Hughes, who was ranked ninth, and Gilbert Melendez. Melendez, who was ranked 10th, took on the tough challenge of Mitsuhiro Ishida on Ishida’s home turf, but lost via decision in Saitama. The talented youngster will no doubt be back.
Entering the poll at No. 8 is WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who had been ranked as high as No. 2, reappears in the poll at No. 10.

Thanks for the update. It’s about time Fedor lost his #1 ranking. I stopped looking because I was too disgusted. Machida has fought more tough competition than Fedor. I just don’t think any HW is P4P in the top 10. Can you imagine if Faber was 100 lbs. heavier with the same skill set? Scary.

He actually gassed with Matt Hughes

He did not gas against Hughes. After completely destroying Hughes in there match up, he suffered from a cracked rib and that is why it might have looked like he gassed but that was not the case. Penn was completely dominating Hughes in that fight, stand up and on the ground. And he would definately beat him if they fought again. For those who don’t believe, watch the first two rounds again in that fight before he suffered the effects of the cracked rib.

i late in the chat but i just wana say that i belive that MATT serra can definitely do it again. one time for SERRA

Its widely known that Penn has always had cardio issues. Ive watched the hughes 2 fight many times and whilst Penn won the first 2 rounds he didint dominate as much as Penn fans boast which by your posts i can tell you have alot of respect for Penn and are fans. Penn will only possibly hold the LW title again forget him ever holdin the welterweight title again. I think he even said he would like to try middleweight lol never gonna happen. Penn while he has crazy talent is gettin to the point where he is being surpassed by others in the LW division. As i said after this next fight we will see where Penn stands. Its gonna take more than a win over Pulver for me to start second guessing my opinion of him being overated these days.

He did not gas against Hughes. After completely destroying Hughes in there match up, he suffered from a cracked rib and that is why it might have looked like he gassed but that was not the case. Penn was completely dominating Hughes in that fight, stand up and on the ground. And he would definately beat him if they fought again. For those who don’t believe, watch the first two rounds again in that fight before he suffered the effects of the cracked rib.

I’m actually one of BJ Penn’s biggest fans, he’s phenomenal.

I’m actually shocked that I didn’t know that BJ Penn had a broken Rib.

I must have been in a coma when that news came out, this still is 2006 isn’t it???

Poor, poor man . R.I.P Matt Serra.

When do tickets go on sale for this in april im hurting for good tickets i live 2 min away .. ha ha . ha

hey kickinthehead, do you know of a hotel thats close by the venue that will have this event??

Why does everyone think BJ Penn always gasses-out. He gassed ONE TIME, and that was against GSP. Why would anyone get offended by Penn talking $hit about Sherk. Sean Sherk cheated and has to live with the consequenses. BJ has scored wins over MUCH MORE notable oppenents than Sherk has. It’s not like Penn runs his mouth and talks $hit about a lot of fighters. Sherk took the easy way out and got busted. Leave BJ Penn alone. There’s is honestly no one in the LW division that can beat PENN. And to think of the list made saying he cant beat STEVENSON, GUIDA, HUERTA, is just stOOpid.

damn … did you not hear me? i know bj is great i would love to see him win again….but seriously if he cant beat stevenson, he cant beat guida huerta nor griffin. the only reason you took it personal is cuz you know its the truth dude…and he did gas out on hughes! or are you admiting hughes is the the much better fighter that night cuz i saw penn dominate for almost 3 rounds and then he gave up…not gassed out gave up! same damn deal with gsp he should have won when it counted and it didnt and beating jens and stevenson wont fixed that as much as you would want to. he talk shit about every fighter and i dont care if he does or not talk shit at least sherk doesnt gas out or give up even though he did cheat but he must have been on them his entire career if we are no just finding out he used steroid. “Leave bj penn alone” ??? bj does not need you to protect him. punishment athtletics…fist! and jens did beat him once at 155 so there was someone that could beat him and there fighters there now.

so why didnt he beat hughes the second time?

Gsp ends tha fight violently.Serra is almost as Sherk…no one wants him to be the champion.It’s time for everything to get right.LW champion Bj penn…WW champion GSP…MW champion Anderson silva…LHW champion Rampage OR Wandy…HW champion Couture, or Arlovski, or FEDOR…in a perfect world.

This is ridiculous. Why even have fights then?

Twisted: BJ Penn has never gassed fighting at 155 in his life.
BJ likes to eat and party and he walks around a lot heavier then 155 lbs when he isnt training for a fight. In order for him to make the 155 lb weight limit he has to be in great shape, which is why BJ is so unstoppable at 155 lb, because that is the only weight in which you can absolutely count on him being in excellent condition.

I guarente BJ beats Joe, much easier then many people expect. Joe is the same fighter as Hughes he is a mini, less skilled matt hughes who will get completely outclassed by a well conditioned BJ. Thats a promise….don’t sleep on BJ’s chin…its really tough!

you know im not gonna disagree with you i know bj has got stevensons number..if he really wants to win. so if stevenson is like hughes and he is a mini…so why didnt he beat hughes the second time? he could have! you saying hughes was the much better fighter that night…cuz hughes should have stayed beaten when he first fought gsp but came out on top. i hope he is in excellent conditioning, but if thats the case then he must be profesional about his career if hes doing all that and not really care about being in shape at a weight class (170) he is know for handling very well..i mean he looked pretty stacked against hughes the first time and thanks for debating this with me in a mature intelligent way and not totally sweat and kiss bj’s nutz like punishment did he took it way to personal.

Can someone please explain to me about GSP’s “weak chin”? People say that he got his ass kicked against Serra (and let’s be honest, he did) But he took a bunch of punches before finally going down. It’s not like it was a one-punch knockout or something. I’ve never seen him take a one-punch knockout against anyone. He got hit more than a few times by BJ as well.

And he has a weak chin?

How come no one says Serra has a weak chin? He got Ko’d by Shonie with one punch, didn’t he?

What exactly constitutes a “weak chin”?

I’m not trolling or being sarcastic- it just seems strange to me. If someone has a logical explanation I’d love to hear it.

damn … did you not hear me? i know bj is great i would love to see him win again….but seriously if he cant beat stevenson, he cant beat guida huerta nor griffin. the only reason you took it personal is cuz you know its the truth dude…and he did gas out on hughes! or are you admiting hughes is the the much better fighter that night cuz i saw penn dominate for almost 3 rounds and then he gave up…not gassed out gave up! same damn deal with gsp he should have won when it counted and it didnt and beating jens and stevenson wont fixed that as much as you would want to. he talk shit about every fighter and i dont care if he does or not talk shit at least sherk doesnt gas out or give up even though he did cheat but he must have been on them his entire career if we are no just finding out he used steroid. “Leave bj penn alone” ??? bj does not need you to protect him. punishment athtletics…fist! and jens did beat him once at 155 so there was someone that could beat him and there fighters there now.

so why didnt he beat hughes the second time?

Oh man, SOOOO misinformed. I thought it was common knowledge by now that BJ had split his rib? Penn’s site said that and it was confirmed by the UFC’s site via doctor reports.
The fact that BJ continued to fight with that rib injury is amazing. ANY rib injury hurts SOOOO bad, I can’t imagin him fighting with that. Give up? Far from it my friend.

There is no one out there that can beat BJ at 155. Pulver at the time was much better, BJ was much worse, Penn still had him in an armbar which Pulver was saved by the bell at the end of the second, he was already in the process of tapping. And the whole descision was so close anyway, oculd have gone either way. EIther way, Penn killed him like a kid in there second battle.

BJ lost against Hughes when it mattered unfortunatly, the rib injury happened during the worst fight possible, but to say he cnat make up for it, i dunno about that. He is about to win the LW title, and prove you wrong by beating SHerk, at which point VERY few will argue that any LW has a real chance at Penn. Then, after a few much easier that Sherk defenses, he will move to WW and suprise the world again, just like he did agasint Hughes, just like agasint Gomi, Duane, Rodrigo, Renzo, and Machida.

Oh man, SOOOO misinformed. I thought it was common knowledge by now that BJ had split his rib? Penn’s site said that and it was confirmed by the UFC’s site via doctor reports.
The fact that BJ continued to fight with that rib injury is amazing. ANY rib injury hurts SOOOO bad, I can’t imagin him fighting with that. Give up? Far from it my friend.

There is no one out there that can beat BJ at 155. Pulver at the time was much better, BJ was much worse, Penn still had him in an armbar which Pulver was saved by the bell at the end of the second, he was already in the process of tapping. And the whole descision was so close anyway, oculd have gone either way. EIther way, Penn killed him like a kid in there second battle.

BJ lost against Hughes when it mattered unfortunatly, the rib injury happened during the worst fight possible, but to say he cnat make up for it, i dunno about that. He is about to win the LW title, and prove you wrong by beating SHerk, at which point VERY few will argue that any LW has a real chance at Penn. Then, after a few much easier that Sherk defenses, he will move to WW and suprise the world again, just like he did agasint Hughes, just like agasint Gomi, Duane, Rodrigo, Renzo, and Machida.

Thanks for for those three paragraphs The Anomaly. I was beginning to get angry before I saw your reply. I really hope to see GSP/PENN 2 in the future to once and for all end all of this controversy. GSP is a great fighter, but Penn will leave the octagon the winner.

Lastly, I hope everyone has the chance to read BJ Penn’s book: “Mixed Martial Arts; The Book Of Knowledge”. In the book Penn does state that he injured his rib in the second fight with Hughes. However, he confessed that the injury had a lot to do with his poor nutrition before the fight. It takes a true fighter a lot of balls to say that. BJ Penn was his own worse enemy. That BJ Penn is long gone, and the new rededicated one is here to stay. It’s scary that he nearly beat two of the best Welterweights in the world without taking nutrition seriously.

Did you think that in their first fight??

I believe teh only advantage Serra has is in the wild Wanderlei-like exchanges, and GSP no doubt realizes this this time around, he wont get sucked into that, like he did the first time. I don’t beleiev it was luck the first time, I beleive Serra succesfully pulled GSP into the one aspect where he could beat GSP every time, I do not however, beleive it will happen again.

Lastly, I hope everyone has the chance to read BJ Penn’s book: “Mixed Martial Arts; The Book Of Knowledge”. In the book Penn does state that he injured his rib in the second fight with Hughes. However, he confessed that the injury had a lot to do with his poor nutrition before the fight. It takes a true fighter a lot of balls to say that. BJ Penn was his own worse enemy. That BJ Penn is long gone, and the new rededicated one is here to stay. It’s scary that he nearly beat two of the best Welterweights in the world without taking nutrition seriously.

Yeah man I havnt gotten a chance to read that, but your right on about that, it takes a man to man up and admit you messed up, no excuses, just didnt come prepared. ANd it is incredible how he did agaisnt GSP and Hughes, like you said, not taking his training/nutrition seriously.

In MMA anything can happen..but I don`t pay attention to what Hughes has to say. If Gsp takes Serra down…it will be Renzo Gracie blk bjj clinic on Georges.

serra couldnt submit lytle…i dont see him submitting gsp who ive seen use some crisp submission skills…not going to happen

WHy isnt this updated nbc or scbs says l.m has been offered to fight TITO ORTIZ and that L.M has accepted the fight but we are awaiting to hear rom TITO what do you all think??

this is about Serra and GSP. Who cares about Tito " im a crybaby" Ortiz

Well, I guess he is having an amazing recovery. The fact is, he probably didn’t want to fight Hughes. GSP will win by tko in round 1. Then, he fights, and gets humiliated by Hughes, then Serra becomes the footnote that no one knows or cares about.

serra will never be a footnote he was the Biggest Underdog to win a fight. they say its teh biggest upset in UFC HISTORY. he will not be a foot note and u can bet people will know and care about what he did

I’m not saying he’s scared of Hughes, but he says and what he really wants could be 2 different things.

all im gonna say is Serra won the title in April so maybe having this fight in April means he will win again

Man there’s a lot of nuts on this site, gsp has the tools to destroy serra, its a fact he does, he could destroy any welter weight if he could beat hughes the way he did at ufc 79. That being said I also think its possible for any top 10 welter weight to beat gsp too, with punchers chance or catch him in some submission. The only welter weights who have a chance in my opinion of beating him in a three rounder by decision would be fitch,koscheck or penn if he moves up. I also think gsp would win most of these fights if they went to a decision I just think these fighters have the ability to potential give a close fight. This is how I see the top ten in the welter weight division, and its just my opinion so chill.
   top 10 welter weights
  1. georges st.pierre
  2. bj penn if he moved up
  3. koscheck, I think he’s a better wrestler than fitch.
  5. fitch
  6. matt hughes
  7. karo parisyan
  8. diego sanchez
  9. thiago alves
 10. matt serra, I think his last fight was a fluke, calm down its just my opinion, serra’s good enough to be top 10 but I think every fighter in front of him on my list could beat him more times than he beats them.

On paper the gsp/serra fight was a fluke, it is people sorry if it offends, but we’ll know for sure come april, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be surprised this time with the results.

GSP, go! Kick Serra’s ass and get back your belt

The UFC will never come to Toronto because Ontario has strick laws about MMA fighting and by the time they changed the UFC rules to suite Ontario laws it would not be worth watching…

Can’t wait to see the homegrown GSP go down.

Hopefully Serra will smash his face in again.