Report: Serra To Face St. Pierre In April
Matt Serra has confirmed to NBC Sports that his back injury is “rapidly improving” and he will be ready to face Georges St. Pierre in April.
Serra (9-4 MMA, 6-4) won the welterweight title last-April with a shocking first round knockout of the heavily-favored St. Pierre. Despite winning the title nearly one year ago, Serra has yet to put the title on the line. After serving as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 6 opposite Matt Hughes the coaches were to clash in the main event of UFC 79 in late-December. In November, however, Serra suffered a herniated disc in his back which forced him to withdraw from the fight.
St. Pierre (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) stepped up on short notice to take the fight against Hughes with the winner being awarded an interim welterweight title. St. Pierre dominated the rubber-match between the pair securing a fight-ending armbar in the second round.
With Serra’s injury set to be healed in time for the event, he and St. Pierre will clash for a second time in front of St. Pierre’s home country. The match, which will headline the UFC’s first-ever event in Canada, is expected to take place April 19th at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
For more information of the event, including additional rumored bouts, click here.
Tags: georges st. piere, Matt Serra
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“Rapidly improving”???????
Looking forward to it. Tickets, tickets, where can I get some tickets for this event?
wow this is going to be the saddest title defence in the history of the UFC every1 thought Hughes was gonna kick the **** out of Serra and GSP kicked the **** out of Hughes i gurantee GSP gets his belt back before the 3rd round
UFC 83: Redemption
I predict early second round TKO.
wow…his injury is rapidly improving after Hughes fights. I bet Hughes would have waited until April if he would have known he was going to fight so soon. Serra is a little b**** that knew his injury was not as bad as they thought and just does not want to fight Hughes. Well maybe its not that….he just didnt want to lose his title to Hughes….now he loses it to GSP. What a b****.
It seems kind of strange that he is “rapidly improving” right after Hughes is knock off the welterwieght ladder. GSP is going to destroy Serra.
the odds are really stacked against serra in this fight not only is gsp ten times better then him but there also fighting in gsp home town, that might put to much pressure on gsp or it could make him more determined, any way i will be cheering for serra even tho hes guna get his arse kicked.
Everyone needs to stop talking smack on Serra..if he says he was hurt, he was hurt..I am a big GSP fan(my real life Jean Claude Van Damme)haha but i am also a Long Islander like Serra…the dude has never been “beat” up..always comes to fight, and is world class on the ground. Anything can happen when you have submission skills.
Regardless of the outcome of this fight i can’t see Serra laying over and handing GSP the belt back. New Yorkers don’t work that way. Not in our blood.. Can’t wait to see if GSP the mental midget at times, handles all the pressure of fighting before his home country and the title.
“Regardless of the outcome of this fight i can’t see Serra laying over and handing GSP the belt back. New Yorkers don’t work that way. Not in our blood…”
F*** yeah! I’m not convinced Serra’s going to lose this at all. No matter how good GSP is, Serra is still a great fighter and not one to be counted out (ew, I sounds like Rogan now). I’ll be at Hooters on the Island rooting for my boy!
Did anyome notice the punch to the back of the head that rocked GSP in the first fight? That is the only reason Serra won that fight the way he did. I like Serra he is a great guy the punch was an accident and GSP made no excuses. But GSP is the best fighter in the division and will be for a long time.
You cannot seriously call Serra a great fighter; other than his W over GSP, which everyone knows was a fluke, what else has he done? I think Serra, despite his mouth, is a good guy but should concentrate on coaching as that is where he really shines.
He has beaten Yves Edwards, Ivan Menjivar, Chris Lytle, GSP…lost DECISIONS to Din Thomas, Karo, BJ and got knocked out by a freak spinning back fist by Shonie Carter (he was winning that fight) Serra is better then you guys think. Still not convinced he is beating GSP twice but come on…show some love…stop all the hatin..lol… All i am saying is he isn’t going to go down like some punk. Atleast we know we are going to see a fight. Can’t wait..
Johnny, Exit 58? Islandia??
serra is good, but his rank as number 1 welterweight in the world is a little bit of bull****, he got lucky once and I think gsp is going to make an example of him in their next fight
the only fighter in that division that is gonna pose a threat to gsp is jon fitch
I will throw up if Serra defends
Tubekid, Shonie Carter beat him. Enough said.
Lyoto machida and Tito? Anyone heard of that story?
machida has said yes to the fight! just waiting for tito to answer but tito is in talks about a new contract as he only has one fight left on his current contract, i think tito would be to good for machida tito looks like an heavyweight an machida looks more like a light weight ha 2nd round ground an pound win for tito here!
This will be one of the few times I will pick a Canadian over an American. It doesnt matter how “New York does it” when GSP dominates this fight. Then Hughes will dominate him in his last fight before he retires. Serra will slowly start to fade away fighting mediocre fighters back where he belongs. It always sucks to see when the best is not on top.
Here’s Matt Serra’s future; gets destroyed by GSP and promptly announces the drop to 155. Gets an opponent at 155 and wins, is given a top notch lightweight and loses and that is the end of Matt Serra in the UFC. As much as I like him as a person from the TUF shows he is just not a top level fighter.
And they will try to do a Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra but nobody will care; I already don’t care.
GSP obviously the favorite but you cannot just say that Serra has no chance. GSP has all the pressure on him, in his home country, he is supposed to win. Well he was supposed to win the first time and he get upset. I like GSP and Serra and I cannot wait to watch the rematch. Serra will be calm and cool in this fight and will not get rattled. GSP will prolly use some wrestling. I know Serra’s BJJ is world class but I do not see him submitting GSP. Prediction, GSP TKO late round 2. good fight though.
I really don’t see Tito taking that fight. REALLY bad fight for Tito. He can’t take a fight where he is a stepping stone. He isn’t in that position in his career yet. I want Machida vs. Chuck.
Thumper u could not be more right about the future for Serra
Where is Martin Kampmann? Could his first fight back be for a title? Or Franklin? Or Tanner?
Ahh the hate… I seem to remember all this ‘love’ for Matt Serra the last time he was going to fight GSP… I’m hoping it turns out the way it did last time… with all of you crying foul or luck.
Serra in 3 OR GSP in 1.
GSP will take the belt back. If sarra wins it’s like lighting striking twice in the same spot.
I hope GSP destroys that weird voiced little mutt Matt Serra, that dude wont hold the belt for long hes been beat by to many other dudes in MMA he trying to hold the belt for as long as he can thats why he faked his injury punk. If GSP looses,he should retire from MMA cause Serras a nobody, Nah just idden he shouldnt retire but he should rethink his career. In my mind that wont even happen, I know for a fact George will win and in devastating fashion, KO 1st round if anything.
First off I dont like matt serra, second of he is gunna beat gsp again. Matt serra is a WORLD bjj champion. The guy may be a clown but he is the real deal, gsp is gunna get stomped. He is a cut but small 170 serra is way stronger with better stand up and much better bjj. gsp may be fun to watch but he doesnt have a prayer
First off, Kyle, did you know this is an article from almost 3 months ago and no had posted on it since then. Secondly, are you serious? I do believe you may be an idiot. Yep, you are.