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[Brutus]

Arroyo talks UFC contracts, Serra and more

This is only a portion of the full interview but it gives some good info.

MMAFightLine.com: Does the UFC pay for any of your expenses?

Arroyo: The ones you are fighting in – they fly you out and one corner man. They put you in a hotel, one room and two beds and $500 cash for anything you need because they fly you out 4 days early – you have to do interviews and all the public relations. Anything else is on you. When you want to go and just watch a UFC they give you 2 free tickets, which is actually worth a lot of money. The last one I went to was UFC 79 and I had front row seats. That was $1,000 a piece; they just gave me $2,000 right there. They take care of the guys they want to, and the guys they don’t want to, they don’t.

MMAFightLine.com: Who do you think are the top 5 guys in your division?

Arroyo: GSP, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra. John Fitch is looking like he is up there and maybe Kozcheck or Diego. It’s a stacked division, man.

MMAFightLine.com: Who are you picking in the GSP v. Serra fight?

Arroyo: It’s tough to say. I think they are rushing Matt Serra too quickly. I don’t think – well, I know that he is not healed. Herniated discs take more than 2 or 3 months to heal, and to start training the way he has to train to go 5 rounds with GSP – they are rushing Matt too quickly, and he is not going to be able to get in shape. If it gets past the second or third round, it’s bad news for Serra. I think Serra has the skills to beat GSP again. Everybody says it was a fluke. I talked to Matt about it a million times. This was the first fight where Ray Longo took him to different gyms in the City and he said he had over 100 rounds of sparring, stand-up and kickboxing with the best kickboxers in the area just going round after round. He never felt comfortable with the stand-up. After that, he said he was completely comfortable standing with anyone. GSP was coming in with 1 shots and Serra was coming in with combinations.

MMAFightLine.com: How does Matt Serra feel about the interim title that was awarded to GSP?

Arroyo: I think he thinks it’s bull****.

MMAFightLine.com: I think pretty much everyone thinks interim titles are bull****.

Arroyo: Yeah, its horse crap. He’s the Champ. There is no interim champ. I think it is bull**** how they are favoring GSP. I mean you can favor him and think he is going to win, but as an organization, the UFC, the first time and again, is favoring GSP and they are even putting it on in Canada like they are setting the stage for him to win, and he is not even the Champ. Matt is the Champ. They should be doing stuff like that for him. They should be looking to do it somewhere near New York or New Jersey. You know, he is the Champ. He has the belt. Every person they put up against him in TUF – they didn’t give him any chance in the world to beat them. I’ve rolled with him a bunch of times and his jiu-jitsu is amazing. It’s just phenomenal. The way he passes guard and gets position, his balance, and he is a great coach. I think his jiu-jitsu is better than GSP’s. I think his stand up is just as good. He is shorter, but he knows how to use his height to get inside and get his power shots off. If Matt Serra is healthy, I am picking him again. I think he has a mental advantage as well. He knocked the guy out his last fight.

I really dont think Serra would agree to a fight for the WW belt if he wasnt able to compete at the highest level but we will see what happens and what Serra says after the fight.

[ArMnHC]

wow, Arroyo just made himself look like a jack ass. did he even watch the Hughes/GSP fight? hello, GSP refused to be called Interim Champion, and basically only considers himself the #1 contender.

why doesnt Arroyo worry about himself, and the fact that he's gunna get killed at 170 in the UFC.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by ArMnHC

wow, Arroyo just made himself look like a jack ass. did he even watch the Hughes/GSP fight? hello, GSP refused to be called Interim Champion, and basically only considers himself the #1 contender.

why doesnt Arroyo worry about himself, and the fact that he's gunna get killed at 170 in the UFC.

that was one of the first things that came to my mind. as a guy that isnt even in the picture at WW at this point, i dont know why he would comment on GSP, other than the fact that he has an unfair bias in the favor of Serra.

[FE_EatsChildren]

Originally Posted by ArMnHC

wow, Arroyo just made himself look like a jack ass. did he even watch the Hughes/GSP fight? hello, GSP refused to be called Interim Champion, and basically only considers himself the #1 contender.

why doesnt Arroyo worry about himself, and the fact that he's gunna get killed at 170 in the UFC.

i think he's actually just talking about how ufc is setting up the stage for gsp... not the fact that he thought gsp thought he was the champ...

[Kansas]

Yeah that reads like a critcism of the UFC favoring GSP not GSP doing anything. The UFC just got called out for swinging on GSP's short and curlies.

[CJRockstar]

As previously mentioned above, Arroyo should be more worried about the raping he is gonna recieve in his own ring time and less about others. He's probably going to be fighting first steppers for the short life of his UFC career anyways.
It's obviously a bias, and speaking his mind on this subject was just retarded because with Dana you only get so many "assclown strikes" then you stop getting your "free tickets" and "contract extentions" lol. Congratulations Assclown!

[Dork8503]

Matt Serra isn't as marketable as GSP, thats why its in Canada. Plus they just had a event in NJ didn't they, an have never had one in Canada. As we have seen the Canadian show sold out fast as hell.

Its not UFC favoring GSP, its about money.

[LethalStriker]

Serra has been champ for a year now, god forbid he actually have to defend his title.

[POINDEXTER]

Silva fought in Ohio, right? Who cares. Bring the fight and get the win. Man up. It would be even more satisfying to win in a situation where the UFC is banking on marketing your opponent, I think. I'm pullin' for Serra and he better be in shape or he has no chance.

[Ramma]

Originally Posted by LethalStriker

Serra has been champ for a year now, god forbid he actually have to defend his title.

That is my thoughts exactly..

Given, it ISN'T Matt's fault he hasn't fought all year (to my knowledge anyway). He didn't set up TUF 6, and I don't think his injury was by any means intentional.



Apparently, Matt Serra's words of wisdom are rubbing off on his fighters to the point where they say the same garbage.