Matt Serra – “It’s Him or Me”

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By Thomas Gerbasi

World Champion. It’s a title Matt Serra takes seriously, and in living up to his obligations as the title holder at 170 pounds in the UFC, that means being willing to travel the world in defense of his crown against all comers.

Of course, that’s great in theory, but for most, fighting at home or in familiar surroundings is preferable to going into hostile territory to fight a hometown favorite. Not Serra though. In fact, the Long Island, New York native sounds downright giddy about his April 19th rematch in Montreal against the man he won the belt from, Georges St-Pierre.

“Let me tell about a little movie called ‘Rocky 4’,” jokes Serra. “I don’t know if you ever saw it; if not, rent it, it will change your life. Seriously though, I never once said I’m fighting here and not there, there and not here; that’s not my style. I never once picked an opponent, I never refused an opponent, and I’m pretty easy going. The fact that it’s in his backyard, hey, as far as I’m concerned, as long as it’s the same cage, I don’t care if it’s in his living room. I’m a professional fighter, and the key word is ‘professional’. I’m not sweating it. It’s a fight, and if anything, it’s more pressure on him. Mentally, I can’t be broken. I’m a big believer in myself, even when the people don’t. I’ve proven it before and I’m ready to do it again.”

It’s what we want to hear from our champions, and similar to the thoughts of middleweight king Anderson Silva when he traveled to Cincinnati last year to fight and beat hometown hero Rich Franklin a second time. Of course, having a first round win over your opponent - like Silva did and like Serra does – doesn’t hurt either. But while the mental edge of having that type of victory is evident, from a gameplan point of view, what do you do for fight two when you fought the perfect fight the first time?

“You’re gonna just have to adapt and overcome,” said Serra. “Now we have less of the element of surprise, at least with the standup. Nobody thought I was any threat standing up and I guess now they’re gonna look at that differently. The good thing about that is, if you want to take it to the floor, I guarantee my jiu-jitsu will be on point. That’s how I made my name, through my jiu-jitsu, and I have so many techniques in the arsenal that I was preparing to use the first time that I didn’t get to use, and more so since. Hey, if I go out there, throw one punch and it’s over, that’s awesome, but you are remembered for your battles and your wars, and that’s what you’re also gonna remember when you’re old and gray, so if this is gonna be a bloody battle, bring it on, I’m ready.”

An intense war would be great for the fans at the Bell Centre, but to hear Serra talk about going five hard rounds or less may be even more assuring, considering that last November, fighting was the last thing on his mind after a serious back injury forced him to withdraw from his UFC 79 bout with Matt Hughes. He admits that the prospect of not being able to fight again crossed his mind.

“When you can’t get out of a chair or out of bed and your wife is helping you put your socks and shoes on, of course, negative things pop into your head,” said Serra, who herniated two discs in his back. “But I wanted to know what I was dealing with, I got the MRI and I kinda lucked out in the sense that they said if it would have been to the left or to the right, and if I would have felt numbness in the legs, it would have been a lot worse and I would have had to have gotten surgery. But I got a spinal injection, that seemed to help out a great deal to speed along the recovery, and I lucked out.”

And as of Monday’s press conference in Montreal, he was already back in the gym and getting ready for the fight.

“I did start sparring, I started rolling, and I feel really good,” said Serra. “I’m still rehabbing it just to make sure it’s strong, and I have to add that into my routine before and after. There have been no problems and we’ll be ready to rock by April.”

That’s good because he’ll need to be on top of his game against St-Pierre, who has bounced back from his April 2007 loss to Serra to score impressive wins over Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes. ‘The Terror’ is ready though, and he’s got some tricks up his sleeve for GSP.

“Not only did he look good in his last two fights, he’s looked just as good, if not better, when he was coming off beating BJ Penn and Matt Hughes,” said Serra of his opponent. “But I’m a different fighter, I’m gonna pose some different problems, and I’m gonna be game. I don’t want to discredit any other guys – not that I care about discrediting Matt Hughes (laughs) – but there are certain things you have to risk, and a certain mindset you have to have when fighting a guy like Georges. There are guys who want to win either by playing it safe or by just trying to win a decision this way or that way, and that’s not the way to go. I believe this is not gonna be a five round fight – I believe it’s him or me, that’s the way I look at things, and I feel great about it.”

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