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By: Maynard Sweeney, MMATorch Contributor This article is the eighth in a series of daily releases counting down the top thirty fights of 2008. We will release a new article each day starting from #30 all the way up until the end of the month.
Top 30 Fights of 2008: #22
Georges "Rush" St. Pierre vs. Matt "The Terror" Serra
UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II - 4/19/2008
In the Middle Ages, a poet by the name of Dante Alighieri from Florentine, Italy, wrote a classical epic poem known as Divina Commedia. Across 14,000 lines of poetry, we follow Dante through Hell in Inferno, Purgatory in Purgatorio, and Heaven in Paradiso. In the first installment, Inferno, Dante is led by the real life Roman poet Virgil through Hell. Virgil instructs Dante that Hell is structured into nine circles, each one representing a gradual increase in wickedness for those whom they house.
Mr. Alighieri and his humble guide, Virgil, are both most fortunate that they began and concluded their journey long before the twenty first century. For if they had waited beyond the evening of April 7th, 2007, they would have had a lot of trouble making it through the ice that had frozen solid through all nine circles of Hell.
With a flurry of punches and the wave of a referee's hand, it is a wonder that the very underlying infrastructure of the martial arts multiverse did not collapse upon itself as the bowels of the underworld imploded under the weight of the frigid irony that had gripped it.
The outcome of Georges St. Pierre versus Matt Serra left the world standing still. Muay Thai bags swung with deafening silence in dojos, as there were no fighters unabsorbed from the events transpiring in the Toyota Center. Jiu Jitsu mats lay cold and unused in the dark as men and women of every rank watched their televisions while the world stood still.
A dethroned Georges St. Pierre lay on the canvas of the chain linked cage in which he was supposed to be emperor for years to come. His violent inheritance of the UFC Welterweight Title was seen unanimously as a right of passage, a prophecy fulfilled. Yet, to quote Jules Winnfield, "this was Divine Intervention! You know what Divine Intervention is?"
If you haven't already figured out what I'm implying, it's that this fight's outcome was in the eyes of many an act of god. I personally am not a religious person. In fact, I am anti-religious to the point that I cannot stand listening to the outdated hobnobbery of those who are. However, when Matt Serra ran through St. Pierre like a freight train, there was but a single phrase upon my chapped Irish lips: Jesus Freaking Christ.
The events that transpired after Matt Serra's winning of the coveted Welterweight title left the world of mixed martial arts in a state of disarrayed pandemonium for over a year. Matt Serra became a coach on the popular Ultimate Fighter series opposite arch nemesis Matt Hughes, and like clockwork yet another UFC title was put on hold so the reality series junkies of America could submit their mushy brains to more capitalism fueled propaganda.
When a so called "super fight" between lord of the jocks Matt Hughes and the new evil king of the Welterweight division Matt Serra was scheduled for the end of the reality series, fans breathed a sigh of relief. It was believed by most that Hughes would handedly defeat Serra, winning back the title in the name of order and justice.
This path towards being saved, however promising, ended up going the way of the dodo when Serra pulled out of the fight because of a severe back injury suffered in training. His exit from the fight with Hughes also meant that the Welterweight title would would be on hold for even longer. Re-enter: Georges St. Pierre.
St. Pierre ended up peeling Hughes off of the the bottom of his foot in two easy rounds, and earned himself the interim title, solidifying him as the number one contender for Serra's real title. Even if we had to wait, the rematch was set, and fans of all races and creeds thirsted to see the title returned to it's rightful owner.
The battle was to take place on the eve of April 19, 2008 – exactly a year and twelve days since Serra first toppled the giant. The fight was billed for UFC 83: St. Pierre vs. Serra II, and no one could wait to see once and for all if the loss of the title had been a fluke, or Matt Serra was truly talented enough to make lightning strike twice.
Well, after nine minutes and forty five seconds of Serra weathering a hurricane of Alexandrian proportions, the fight was stopped in favor of "the Terror" not having to be fixed with a new set of ribs. There were no surprises this time, the sky didn't fall like it had a year before. The fight was prompt, business as usual. St. Pierre had gold around his waist again.
This one's an easy sell. It's number twenty two because it restored order to our beloved world of fists and feet. Georges St. Pierre can rest easy knowing he toppled the bedlam that enveloped mixed martial arts for a year; and some day he'll retire to walk the Earth like Caine from Kung Fu, holding with him a precious wisdom of how one rights a great wrong.
Stay tuned for #21 of the MMATorch Top 30 Fights of 2008, which will be revealed with a full article tomorrow.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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