Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra

Y’know, both of these guys are too darn nice to be in a cage together. We’re not likely to see a single punch thrown. The winner will most likely take no pleasure in having bested his opponent.

Okay, in reality everybody knows that these two hate each other. You can pipe in all the sound bytes you want to, like “I just wanna shut this guy’s mouth” and “We both hate each other and that just makes for an exciting fight”, etc. etc.

But you know what? This could easily be Sanchez vs. Koscheck 2 all over again. It’s possible they’ll both be so concerned about losing that they’ll not want to take any risks. How many times have we seen grudge matches that haven’t lived up to the hype? Aside from the aforementioned snoozefest at UFC 69, does anybody remember Ortiz vs. Shamrock 2? That fight sucked because Herb Dean rushed in to save Shamrock before he could take any serious damage.

Matt Hughes, despite his status as the best welterweight champion of all time, is best known for grinding out decision victories. He likes to use his superior strength to stay on top of his opponent and out-work him. Matt Serra certainly has the skills to avoid taking damage on the ground. He’ll probably want to stay on his feet and look for another lucky KO shot ala GSP. This fight could see both fighters “stand-and-bland” on the feet or “lay-and-pray” on the ground. It’s wide-open.

Hopefully, we’ll see the brawl that the UFC is promising us. Given that both fighters are approaching retirement, it’d be a shame for either of them to walk out on a sour note. It’s better to go out in a blaze of glory then to stick around while you’re unmotivated. Then again, there’s Chuck Liddell, who may have done things differently to prolong his career. But, he wouldn’t be the icon he is today if he had been known for his conservative style.

Half-hearted philosophy aside, I want what Matt Hughes’ wife wants – blood. End of story.

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