Rocky road for Serra

[Dilaudid]

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.

winnipegsun.com - Other Sports - Rocky road for Serra

remember when we would have to wait like 4-6mths until the next ufc event?

UFC 80- Jan 19
UFC fight night- Jan 23
UFC 81 - Feb 2
UFC 82 Mar 1
UFC Canada -Apr 19th
n also Ultimate Fighter..

I love watchin UFC n any other mma event... but it seems as if the cards get less n less appealing cas' they are adding more n more events..
Dont get me wrong I will always watch them but you are starting to see like 2-3 good fights being headlined...
I guess I could argue it both ways.. 2-3 awesome cards a yr or 9-12 events with 1-2 good fights being headlined...
Then again they are introducing a lot more fighters so I guess we need more events...

What am I saying.. I would watch it every week if it was on...lol ... cant help it I am addicted...

[Cuda]

I see it being completely different fight next go round GSP seems unstoppable
and good for UFC marketing.

[Wutgunz]

If he can just tie his shoes now, I think April might be rushing the comeback a little bit, especially if he's going up against someone the caliber of GSP...he's gonna need all the prep time possible to stop that juggernaut

[Dr Dianabol]

I love how Serra thinks he has GSPs number. What a joke. Hughes could have said the same thing when he beat gsp the first time. If gsp has his head in it, Serra will be destroyed.

I like Serra, but i think he's being a bit delusional here. He should be expecting an absolute War from which he will not survive unless he is in the absolute best shape of his life. Instead, he's telling Hughes how to beat GSP.

Kinda Silly.

Id take GSP with 5 to 1 odds. That's how good GSP is when he's motivated.

[big j]

gsp is going to take out serra the terror what ever that means, did ya'll see ultimate fighter this season i hate hearing him talk i think gsp is back for the gold baby, fucked up to see matt hughs loose guess thats how it goes

[Bionic Bill]

GSP will take his title back from Serra! He is a first class fighter and his personality is as highly ranked as his fighting skills in my opinion!

LB