Matt Serra

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Matt Serra
Statistics
Nickname The Terror
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight 170.5 lb (77.3 kg; 12.18 st)
Nationality American
Born June 2, 1974 (1974-06-02) (age 35)
Fighting out of East Meadow, New York
Town of birth East Meadow, New York
Team/Association Serra Jiu-Jitsu[1]
Primary fighting style Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 9 [2]
  By knockout 1
  By submission 4
Losses 6

Matthew John Serra (born June 2, 1974) is an American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist, known for winning several martial arts championships. He is the former UFC Welterweight Champion and an ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship Silver Medalist. He began practicing martial arts at an early age, first studying kung fu. In the 1990s, he began studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie and on May 23, 2000 was awarded his black belt, the first American to do so under Gracie.

Serra was born to an Italian-American family and currently resides in East Meadow, New York.[3]

Serra and his brother, Nick, run two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools at local strip malls in East Meadow, New York and Huntington, New York. Serra currently trains with Ray Longo and trains fighters, including George Sotiropoulos,[4] Pete Sell,[5] and Luke Cummo.[6] They fight under the Serra/Longo Competition Team.

Contents

[edit] Life and early career

Matt won first place at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Pan American games in 1999. Serra won third place at the 1999 World Championships in Brazil as a brown belt.[7] Continuing his Martial Arts career, he competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship choking out Takanori Gomi, winning a decision over Jean-Jacques Machado, and placing 2nd in the 66–76 kg division. With these credentials, Matt soon began to compete in the UFC organization where he currently has a record of nine wins and six losses.

[edit] The Ultimate Fighter

Matt later became a participant in The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback on SpikeTV. On the show, Serra defeated Pete Spratt and Shonie Carter to reach the finals, his win against Carter avenging his infamous highlight-reel KO loss to Carter at UFC 31. On November 11, 2006, Serra defeated Chris Lytle by split decision to become the Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament Champion. His win earned him a guaranteed title shot against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship,[8] as well as a $100,000 contract and $100,000 sponsorship with Xyience.[9]

[edit] Winning the title

Serra fought St. Pierre on April 7, 2007, and won the UFC Welterweight title via TKO at 3:25 of the first round.[10] Prior to the fight, Serra was considered a substantial underdog.[11]

[edit] Returning to the Ultimate Fighter show as a coach

Serra coached season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show with Matt Hughes. Team Serra finished 6-2 in the first round of fights, winning six consecutive times which gave Serra the right to pick the fights in the second round. However, from then on Serra didn't corner a single fighter to victory and saw all his guys eventually lose out. The finale saw Team Hughes fighters Tommy Speer and Mac Danzig face each other for the title of Ultimate Fighter.[12]

Matt Serra said in season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show that Joe Scarola lost his job at Serra's jiu-jitsu school for quitting The Ultimate Fighter within the first week of the show.[13] Relieving Scarola from his duties was difficult for Serra as the two were close friends, with Scarola serving as best man at Serra's wedding.[14]

The two coaches were scheduled to face off for the UFC welterweight title at the conclusion of the series on UFC 79. Serra, however, was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a herniated disc in his lower back.[15] The injury became evident when Serra was demonstrating a move to his student and fell to the floor in excruciating pain.[16] In Serra's place, Georges St. Pierre fought and defeated Matt Hughes for what was now the interim UFC welterweight title.[17] This led to Serra holding the welterweight title while St. Pierre held the interim title.

After St. Pierre vs Hughes at UFC 79, Serra confirmed to NBC Sports that his back was rapidly improving. He announced that he was scheduled to fight Georges St. Pierre at the first event to take place in Canada, UFC 83.[18] This match would unify the interim and regular welterweight belts.

[edit] Rematch With St-Pierre And Beyond

At UFC 83 on April 19, 2008, Serra fought Georges St.-Pierre in a match to determine the undisputed welterweight championship during the UFC's first-ever event in Canada, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.[19] Instead of striking, St-Pierre pressed the action early with a takedown and kept mixing up his attack, never allowing Serra the chance to mount a significant offense.[20] In the second round, St-Pierre continued his previous actions, forcing Serra into the turtle position and delivering repeated knees to Serra's midsection.[21] When Serra was unable to improve his position or defend against the strikes, referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight.[22] Though St-Pierre demoralized Serra in the ring he was gracious to his defeated opponent and asked the crowd to restrain themselves and show Serra some respect to which the crowd cheered Serra. Serra in turn bowed graciously before St-Pierre.

Serra suffered a unanimous decision loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 98. Serra hurt Hughes early on in the fight with an inadvertent head-butt followed by some heavy punches, however after a very competitive fight, that saw Serra rally late, Hughes was awarded a narrow decision victory. [23]

[edit] Grappling credentials

ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships

ADCC 2001 66–76 kg: 2nd place

Record of opponents:

  • Won: Takanori Gomi (sub), Jean Jacques Machado (pts), Leonardo Silva Dos Santos (sub)
  • Lost: Marcio Feitosa Souza (Conceded victory.)

CBJJ World Championships

1999 Brown Belt Medio: =3rd Place

Pan-American Championships

1999 Purple Belt Medio: 1st place.

[edit] Personal life

Matt and his wife Ann were married on May 26, 2007.[24] The couple had their first child, a daughter named Angelina, on February 11, 2009. [25] Matt owns and operates the Serra Jitsu schools, one in Huntington, NY and the other in East Meadow, NY.[26]

[edit] Mixed martial arts record

Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 9–6 Flag of the United States Matt Hughes Decision (Unanimous) UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida May 23, 2009 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Won Fight of the Night Honors
Loss 9–5 Flag of Canada Georges St. Pierre TKO (Knees) UFC 83: Serra VS St-Pierre 2 April 19, 2008 2 4:45 Flag of Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada Lost UFC Welterweight Championship
Win 9–4 Flag of Canada Georges St. Pierre TKO (Punches) UFC 69: Shootout April 7, 2007 1 3:25 Flag of the United States Houston, Texas, United States Won UFC Welterweight Championship
Win 8–4 Flag of the United States Chris Lytle Decision (Majority) The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale November 11, 2006 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Won TUF 4 Welterweight division
Loss 7–4 Flag of Armenia Karo Parisyan Decision (Unanimous) UFC 53: Heavy Hitters June 4, 2005 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Welterweight division
Win 7–3 Flag of Canada Ivan Menjivar Decision (Unanimous) UFC 48: Payback June 19, 2004 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 6–3 Flag of the United States Jeff Curran Decision (Unanimous) UFC 46: Supernatural January 31, 2004 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 5–3 Flag of the United States Din Thomas Decision (Split) UFC 41: Onslaught February 28, 2003 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss 5–2 Flag of the United States B.J. Penn Decision (Unanimous) UFC 39: The Warriors Return September 27, 2002 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Win 5–1 Flag of the United States Kelly Dullanty Submission (Triangle Choke) UFC 36: Worlds Collide March 22, 2002 1 2:58 Flag of the United States Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 4–1 Flag of the Bahamas Yves Edwards Decision (Majority) UFC 33: Victory in Vegas September 28, 2001 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 3–1 Flag of the United States Shonie Carter KO (Spinning Back Fist) UFC 31: Locked and Loaded May 4, 2001 3 4:51 Flag of the United States Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win 3–0 Flag of the United States Greg Melisi Submission (Armbar) Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 11 February 24, 2001 1 0:46 Flag of the United States Plainview, New York, United States
Win 2–0 Flag of the United States Jeff Telvi Submission (Guillotine Choke) Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 7 January 29, 2000 1 0:30 Flag of the United States Plainview, New York, United States
Win 1–0 Flag of the United States Graham Lewis Submission (Armbar) Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 6 August 21, 1999 1 1:04 Flag of the United States Plainview, New York, United States
  • Note: His record does not include his two wins while on the Ultimate Fighter as they are classified as exhibition bouts.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Fight Finder: Matt Serra". Sherdog. 2007. http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=1305. Retrieved on 2007-08-15. 
  2. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Matt-Serra-1305
  3. ^ UFC : Ultimate Fighting Championship
  4. ^ http://www.raylongomartialarts.com/News%20and%20Events.html
  5. ^ http://www.mmaplayground.com/article/matt-serra-36.html
  6. ^ http://www.mmafighting.com/interviews/2007/04/02/qa-luke-cummo-prepares-a-battle-ufc-69
  7. ^ ATLETA
  8. ^ http://www.wicombatsports.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69:ufc-79-hughes-vs-st-pierre-iii-for-interim-title&catid=22&Itemid=300094
  9. ^ http://www.ultimate-fighter.ca/ufc-fighter.php?id=67
  10. ^ Fight Finder - UFC 69 Shootout Mixed Martial Arts Statistics
  11. ^ The Shreveport Times
  12. ^ http://www.cagepotato.com/2007/12/11/morning-beatdown-mac-danzig-vs-tommy-speer/
  13. ^ http://mmamania.com/2007/09/20/joe-scarola-nerves-got-to-me-in-loss-to-mac-danzig-on-tuf-6-audio/
  14. ^ http://www.cagetoday.com/interview-joe-scarola-opening-his-own-bjj-academy/
  15. ^ http://ballhype.com/story/serra_injured_withdraws_from_ufc_79_card/
  16. ^ UFC : Ultimate Fighting Championship
  17. ^ http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/georges-rush-st-pierre-defeats-matt-hughes-ufc-79
  18. ^ Stupp, Dann (January 31, 2008). "MOntreal's UFC 83 Tickets Sale Beginning Sunday". MMA Junkie. http://mmajunkie.com/2008/01/31/montreals-ufc-83-tickets-sale-beginning-sunday/. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  19. ^ http://www.canadastarboxing.com/ufc/2008/ufc83/bout.htm
  20. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-83-Play-by-Play-12383
  21. ^ http://www.pointspread.com/Misc/Boxing/content/UFC-87-odds:-Seek-%2526amp%3B-Destroy
  22. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/4176/ufc-83-live-results.mma
  23. ^ [1]
  24. ^ Blog entry that states when they were married
  25. ^ "Matt Serra has a Baby Girl!". Serrajitsu.com. 2009-02-13. http://www.serrajitsu.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=2&Itemid=19. Retrieved on 2009-02-20. 
  26. ^ Serra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - Matt Serra and Nick Serra - Long Island, New York

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Georges St-Pierre		 7th UFC Welterweight Championship
April 7, 2007 – April 19, 2008		 Succeeded by
Georges St-Pierre
v • d • e
The Ultimate Fighter - Season 4
v • d • e
The Ultimate Fighter - Season 6
Coaches: Matt Hughes · Matt Serra
Assistant Coaches: Marc Fiore · Robbie Lawler · Ray Longo · Matt Pena · Pete Sell
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Serra"
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