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[TeddyDaBear]

from MMAJUNKIE.com
www.mmajunkie.com

You could argue that the UFC has put more time, effort and resources into marketing a rivalry between current UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and former champ Matt Hughes than any other fight in recent history. An entire season of “The Ultimate Fighter” was devoted to the feud, and Hughes and Serra did their parts to convince fans that the hatred was anything but manufactured.

However, in light of Saturday’s announcement that Hughes will instead fight Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79, could that strategically scheduled, highly marketed, much-anticipated main event between Serra and Hughes now not even take place?

It’s possible.

What a shame — and what a waste — it would be.

Serra went from respectable veteran to world champion by making the most of a golden opportunity. After winning a “comeback” fourth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Serra was guaranteed a title shot, and he made the most of it by scoring one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when he knocked out St. Pierre at April’s UFC 69 event.

Soon after Serra’s shocking victory, the UFC would reach its mainstream peak. ESPN would feature the fight prominently on SportsCenter broadcasts, the UFC would appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and Zuffa LLC — the UFC’s parent company — would finalize its purchase (and eventual dismantling) of its only real competition: the Japan-based PRIDE Fighting Championships.

Interest in the UFC and mixed martial arts was never higher, and riding the wave of momentum, the UFC would pluck Serra (its TV star-turned champion) and Hughes (the old school title-holder who carried the organization through the infamous “Dark Ages”) right out of the title picture and into prime-time TV. Even though the UFC’s crop of 170-pounders had never been deeper, and despite a half dozen true contenders vying for a title shot, the organization put it all on hold.

Former champ St. Pierre, perennial contender Karo Parisyan, the unbeatable Jon Fitch, “The Ultimate Fighter” champion Diego Sanchez, and TV star Josh Koscheck would all have to wait. For what? A new season of the UFC’s reality series, featuring Serra and Hughes as rival coaches.

It was April, and UFC President Dana White announced that the division would be on hold — for more than eight months — for the planning, taping and broadcast of “The Ultimate Fight: Team Serra vs. Team Hughes.“

Serra and Hughes would soon blitz every medium available with the details of their feud — all in preparation for the September debut of their upcoming reality series. Every Wednesday at 10 p.m. was a constant reminder of that upcoming Serra vs. Hughes fight, and every Thursday would come the cyber-pickering via UFC.com-sponsored coach blogs and the ensuing discussion among fans.

All those commercials and event previews, and all the predictions and analysis. All the cheap shots and name-calling and trash-talking. Admittedly, the majority of us were sucked into the real-life drama. It was all the fun of a WWE make-believe squabble with a real-life payoff just around the corner.


It was reality reality-TV.

Sure, Serra would have been a serious underdog. Prior to St. Pierre, he had never been a real contender, nor did he ever really factor into a title picture. But with that unforgettable victory in April, we wanted to believe that lightening could strike twice. We wanted to see that battle with Hughes. The UFC gave us a reason to care, and Serra and Hughes gave us reasons to take sides. Although the oddsmakers were going to have no problem picking a winner (Hughes), we wanted to believe it was going to be a much closer fight.

Then, on Friday, came the dreaded news: a herniated disc would keep Serra out of the fight. And on Saturday, the UFC booked St. Pierre as his replacement and guaranteed the winner the title of “interim” champion.

Although it’s easy to get excited about Hughes vs. St. Pierre III (honestly, when has a fight announcement been so warmly received?), it leaves that Serra vs. Hughes itch totally unscratched. We put in the time and effort to give a damn. We got sucked in. Simply, we cared.

However, it’s not known when — or even “if” — the 33-year-old Serra will return from his injury. When he does, it’ll be against the interim champ in a title-unification bout.

If St. Pierre wins next month (and he’ll be the favorite to do so), that means he — not Hughes — will fight Serra once the current champ returns.

Even Serra would hate to see Hughes go out that way.

“I can’t believe the position this puts me in,” Serra told UFC.com on Saturday. “I’m actually rooting for Matt Hughes so I can beat his ass.“

But what if Hughes doesn’t win? What if St. Pierre takes the interim title and gets the first shot at Serra? How much longer would it take for Serra and Hughes to meet up? And by then — with possibly no title on the line — would anyone even really want to see the fight? Does anyone care about the feud three, six or 12 months from now?

It’s unlikely.

By then — like any good feud — we’ll probably forget what they were even fighting about.

[Diegonightmare]

I was just going to create this thread and post it as a poll - i.e. how much would you care if we never see Serra-Hughes.

[Masscore]

I think we will see the fight still, there are too ways I see it happening.

Number 1 -
Hughes beats GSP (which is possible, even if most people on this forum doesnt think so).
Then fights Serra.

Number 2 -
GSP beats Hughes.
Hughes beats Fighter X (Alves, Fitch, Karo).
GSP beats Serra, (Hughes fights Serra)/or Serra beats GSP (Hughes fights Serra still coming off the win).

I think those are the two ways I see Serra vs. Hughes still happening.

Either way, I am way more pumped for GSP vs. Hughes then Serra vs. Hughes. Hughes was a terrible match-up for Serra and the fight had a really good chance of just becoming, Hughes takes down Serra... Hughes does it again.... Hughes does it again.... etc. For 5 rounds. Hughes vs. GSP though on the other hand is much closer and if Hughes is in wrestling mode instead of Kickboxing mode this fight looks pretty good.

[Howie]

"I think we will see the fight still, there are too ways I see it happening.

Number 1 -
Hughes beats GSP (which is possible, even if most people on this forum doesnt think so).
Then fights Serra."



LOL. the best part about this is the fact that the majority of this forum were hughes nuthuggers before GSP Ko'd him

[Shogun]

I think we'll see this matchup in the near future. Hughes MAY beat GSP, resulting in a fight with Serra, right? Makes sense. I'm sure if GSP wins (like I'm planning on), Hughes will have a rebound fight and THEN take on the loser of the GSP-Serra thing. I believe the UFC HAS to do this because of all the time they wasted promoting the two. Season 6 of TUF would be pointless and the UFC is going to end up looking like retards if Hughes and Serra never get the opprotunity to face eachother.

[Dr. MMA]

I don't think we'll see the fight happening for a while if GSP beats Hughes and then goes on to lose to Serra (like UFC 65 & 69).

Think about it, if Serra was champ, how many more title shots can hughes get when there are legitimate contendors waiting? If Hughes loses to GSP, he would have to wait for Serra to NOT have the belt in order to fight him.

Trust me, people don't forget about fueds, they might say it... but when push comes to shove and they're in the build-up face, they'll be hyped up. Just look at liddell-wand, although they both lost 2 in a row, ppl are psyched to still see it

[ArMnHC]

we will see this fight if, and only if, Hughes beats GSP or GSP stomps both Hughes and Serra. thats it.

[brokeassprez739]

How long is Serra out for?

Regardless, this is how I see it going down:

If GSP defeats Hughes
GSP vs. Serra at UFC 82
Fitch vs. Hughes at UFC 82

Winners fighting each other for the title sometime in Summer of 08

[bobbyretro]

I think....(just that)

If Hughes loses to GSP,he may retire.

GSP and Bj Penn are the only two guys that he said he would like to fight before he hangs his gloves up.

so if Bj decides to stay at lightweight,then it might be game over.

i dont think he feels he has anything to prove by beating Serra,even though they dont like eachother...it just doesnt seem a challenge to him as he did say that serra 'isnt even in the top ten welterweights' in his eyes.

[jrube]

Originally Posted by TeddyDaBear

from MMAJUNKIE.com
www.mmajunkie.com

If I NEVER see Serra fight again I am OK with that, let alone have to hear his voice...

On second thought, I would love to see him fight Hughes and GSP, and watch them both rip his head off and send him to rage in the cage, or M1, Bodog, somthing other than UFC.