Keller's Take
KELLER BLOG: Random thoughts on Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra and its ramfications
May 25, 2009 - 8:18:34 PM KELLER BLOG: Random thoughts on Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra and its ramfications

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This would have meant a lot more had it happened when it was originally supposed to. Still, the recap video of their interaction was a fun reminder of how genuinely these two irritated each other. I'm partial toward Serra's loudmouth bluntness over Hughes's laid back smugness...

With all of the mentions Joe Rogan makes of Hughes being "motivated again," I have one request. Can Hughes - and all MMA fighters, for that matter - do everyone a favor and let us know when they're "not motivated" so consumers can make an educated decision when ordering an event? It'd be nice if they'd let us know ahead of time when they're phoning it in. I appreciate Rogan's honesty, but it draws attention to the idea that some fighters aren't motivated and, thus, are often fighting just for the money...

This was a fight where neither guy lost. Hughes was so sure Serra wasn't in his class, that Serra hanging with him as he did, winning a round, being more aggressive and exciting, and in the end looking like he was ready for two more rounds means Serra has no shame coming out of this. Hughes, though, did beat Serra within the UFC rules by taking him down and controlling most of those last two rounds. Rogan did a good job pointing out that Serra was comfortable on his back. That last takedown by Serra was impressive and gave him another argument for a moral victory in this one... Hughes, meanwhile, can blame his lack of domination of Serra on being knocked silly early with an inadvertent headbutt...

I'm usually all in favor of handshakes and hugs after matches, but I wish Serra would have refused Hughes's patronizing hand-raise after the fight. Hughes wasn't saying Serra won, he was saying "this kid actually held his own when I thought he wasn't in my league." Hughes managed to be gracious and smug at the same time. I'd like a little more often for fighters who sell a strong grudge before the match not to end up best buds after a hard fight. Sure, it shows that MMA fighters are good sportsman, but too often it paints a picture of the pre-match hype being, well, just inflated insincere hype...

Carlos Newton [photo by Wade Keller (c) MMATorch]

I'm not eager to see Hughes in any of those rematches against fighters he's lost to, as Rogan said Hughes has hinted at lately. At least not as a Top Two match on a PPV. Maybe a mid-card match. Hughes isn't going to be in GSP's class again in what's left of his career (it's not an age thing, as he's "only 35," but the quantity of fights he's had and his showings against top fighters lately including two losses to GSP and the loss to Thiago Alves), so any rematches will either see Hughes lose again while making a big payday or winning in boring fashion and hurting the marketability and rep of a younger fighter with a career ahead of him... As for Hughes vs. Anderson Silva, Hughes needed a dominant win here to make that appealing to UFC's fanbase. Hughes vs. Silva would at best be a supporting co-main event given the excitement level of their recent fights. I just don't see it happening. What's in it for Silva at this point? Losing a boring fight on points by being held on the ground, or knocking out a guy who couldn't beat Serra and lost to GSP twice who is late in his career...

I'm usually in favor of fighters who spent their careers during the dog days of UFC's dark era banned from PPV getting some nice paydays to make up for it, but Hughes isn't on that list for me. Part is a bias for his personality, his boring style, and going way back to when he said he was relieved to lose the Welterweight Title to B.J. Penn back at UFC 46 because the pressure was too much... Actually, for nostalgia and because it wouldn't screw up any top welterweights' career to lose on points in a boring fight to Hughes, I'd put in a half-serious vote for a Carlos Newton rematch as a mid-card filler match. That was still one of the craziest finishes to an MMA fight ever. But let the current crew of relevant top welterweights remain in main events fighting for titles...