There was a lot of hype and build up for the fight this week, mainly because of the fact that it was a rematch and a chance for Matt Serra to avenge a KO loss to Shonie Carter. The UFC has been high on rematches lately and generally speaking fans want to see someone get their revenge a la Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture, Jeremy Horn, and hopefully Quentin Jackson if Dana can make that happen. That being said, it's on to the second welterweight fight to decide who makes it in to the finals.
The show this week was pretty dramatic from the start. What was odd was that they hit the weigh-ins right off of the bat. Matt Hughes has some kind words about Shonie being a tough fighter and said that winning a decision against him would be very difficult. I don't believe that Matt Hughes would have any trouble beating Shonie and I doubt it would be by decision.
A lot of focus was placed on Marc Laimon's "poor" work ethic and his apparent lack of interest in helping Team Mojo. Serra ribs him a little bit, but it is obvious that Laimon is not amused and tells them that they have everything under control in the cage before walking away. Matt makes it clear in his confessional that he believes Laimon does not need to be here. A little later on, Matt Hughes starts talking about Serra and Laimon individually before making his point that he would like to see them grapple a little bit.
Matt Serra starts to give Laimon a hard time again about not working very much and Laimon just shrugs it off. It isn't until Marc begins bashing Royce Gracie again that Serra comes a bit unglued.
Matt Serra confronts Marc Laimon about what he feels is disrespect towards Royce Gracie, especially since Laimon is not a fighter himself. Marc fires back that Royce is himself disrespectful in his pre-fight comments to which Hughes visibly disagrees with a look of confusion on his face. Laimon fires back with some strong words and Serra again confronts him about being a "keyboard warrior" and not actually fighting, but rather he just criticizes from the sidelines. Din Thomas appreciates Matt's saying these things to Laimon's face just like he said them in the van rides home from the gym.
Back at the house, Shonie is painting again and this time it's his bed with blue spray paint. The guys don't seem as shocked by the antics, however they are annoyed about the paint fumes lingering inside the rooms. Jorge Rivera is once again the most agitated at Carter and decides to invent a distraction to release some tension. Enter "Phony" Carter. Phony is Jorge wearing a clown nose, a clown wig, a thong, and some clown shoes. They have a mock fight with "Mikey Serra", which is pppMikey Burnett]]] wearing a white gi. In the fight, Carter knocks out the fake Serra with a spinning backfist and everyone has a good laugh about it as "Phony" does the Shonie dance to celebrate his victory.
Carter picks Rich Clementi to corner him from Team No Love and Rich accepts.
Shonie makes it clear that he believes he has the advantages in the fight including the mental game. He states that he feels that he does have the psychological advantage because he knocked Matt out in their first fight. I would have to agree that Matt will be looking for the backfist very avidly in the Octagon and that gives Carter a slight advantage. Don't get me wrong I expect Serra to win. I was just saying....
pppGeorges St Pierre]]] really helps Serra get ready for his fight this week. I found this interesting because if GSP beats Hughes at UFC 65, he will be facing Serra down the line. GSP would definitely know Serra's strengths and weaknesses more so than Matt Hughes would since he has spent more time with the fighters individually.
The night before the fight, Carter and Matt share a light hearted moment and reminisce about their fight six years ago.
The day of the fight and Big John is in Serra's locker room jokingly asking him how he will know to stop the fight. Serra confidently says he will tap Shonie out. There was a lot of build up for this fight, a lot by the UFC hype department. It was right here that I was hoping it delivered for the ratings sake. It should be a war and Carter's reach advantage and height made me nervous for Matt. Shonie is a great fighter no doubt and those two things help his odds tremendously in this fight.
Round 1 - Matt gets a takedown and gets Shonie's back as he would so many times in this fight. He starts dropping heavy punches from that position and I thought he might finish it right here. Shonie weathers the storm and gets up before getting a takedown of his own. Serra manages another takedown shortly after and then gets the mounted position before Carter gets up and scares Serra fans everywhere by landing the spinning backfist AGAIN. It rocks Serra a little bit and Shonie tries to capitalize and he scores a takedown for his efforts.
Round 1 scored for Carter
Round 2 - They both scramble for position and takedowns. Serra locks up in the clinch with Shonie and muscles a takedown where he starts some ground and pound. Matt Serra gets Carter's back and Shonie escapes. The highlight of the round came at the end when Matt Serra lands a jump sidekick right to Shonie's midsection. I didn't see that coming from Serra, I can tell you that.
Round 2 scored for Serra
Round 3 - We are here because they are tied one round a piece. A humorous moment for me happened when Big John actually had to physically pull Shonie's trunks up because they were falling down. They scramble for position again and Serra gets another takedown. More ground and pound for Serra who gets the mounted position again and then takes Carter's back. Shonie is up and Matt gets another takedown, but Shonie ends up on top, but only briefly as Matt gets back to his feet.
Round 3 scored for the winner by unanimous decision and moving on to the finals to face Chris Lytle: Matt Serra.
This fight should hopefully help the all time low ratings that this season is seeing. It was a great fight compared to the other offerings of TUF4 and Matt Serra is the most popular fighter on the show. Let's hope it does so we can continue to see free UFC programming every week.
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