Looking back was the serra win over st pierre really that big of an upset?

[spannered]

Matt was coming off a robbery and didn't have any finishes by strikes on his record prior. GSP was both bigger and sharper technically, so he shouldn't have ran into any trouble, let alone lost, on paper.

A huge upset you could reevaluate is Rousey/Holm, since the gap on the feet should have been apparent and there were people picking Holly.

Holly was a 7-1 underdog. She was a champion boxer, then kickboxer, and was working grappling for years at one of the best gyms on the planet. Rousy had all this stand up hype from a pretty sloppy KO against a grappler beforehand. Holm had some very conservative fights on arrival to the UFC, so naturally bookies gave her no shot.

I put $80 on her given Ronda now had this confidence in her stand up, and she was facing the most underrated female striker in the sport. I just wish I put more down.

The Serra fight, I would have never picked. But I agree that he is underrated by today's crowd.

 

[HHJ]

Matt Serra was riding a pretty big wave at the time winning the ultimate fighter when the ultimate fighter was buzzing like never seen before. e

I mean,the final match he had to win was really boring and he barely won it,and that season was one of the lower rated seasons. People thought OK serra just beat a bunch of other bums like himself,to get a fuckin title shot. It wasnt that big of a wave. Serra sure as hell made the most of it with that win tho.

 

[Horus88]

Yes it was.

 

[Rob-G]

I mean,the final match he had to win was really boring and he barely won it,and that season was one of the lower rated seasons. People thought OK serra just beat a bunch of other bums like himself,to get a fuckin title shot. It wasnt that big of a wave. Serra sure as hell made the most of it with that win tho.

It was still a successful season. Maybe the ratings weren’t as high as Seasons 1-3 but it was still when TUF was something new and bringing in new fans galore. Matt Serra had got the most screentime too. He was the main character of Season 4. Comparable to how Chris Leben was the main character of Season 1 and he went 0-2. They really hooked Serra up with a lot of screentime that season. The beef with Marc Laimon. The tension with Matt Hughes. Avenging his only stoppage loss. The cast was stacked and the drama was fun. And wasn’t it in the contract that the winner of the season is guaranteed a title shot then? They even started building a little storyline during the season which I remember generating some interest. I was mainly just stating my opinion in that post. I consider avenging the loss to Shonie Carter and beating Chris Lytle pretty decent wins. Serra was as popular as ever during that time. It was a stacked cast that season with lots of familiar faces and he came out on top. And definitely far from a bum. I try to go off of memory for how it was at the time. A quick glance at his record and seeing he dropped a few decisions before TUF I guess I can see where you’re coming from. I definitely don’t remember the majority ever considering Serra a bum though. Sounds like maybe you just personally aren’t a fan of him? I acknowledged it was an upset. I think there’s a bit of revisionist history around GSP/Serra though. Mainly from people who just look at records but don’t watch the fights and/or just don’t remember how it was during the time. It was an upset yes. Top 10. Not Top 5 on my own personal list though. The one’s I mentioned in my earlier post were way more shocking to me. Especially Gonazaga / Cro Cop

 

[HHJ]

It was still a successful season. Maybe the ratings weren’t as high as Seasons 1-3 but it was still when TUF was something new and bringing in new fans galore. Matt Serra had got the most screentime too. He was the main character of Season 4. Comparable to how Chris Leben was the main character of Season 1 and he went 0-2. They really hooked Serra up with a lot of screentime that season. The beef with Marc Laimon. The tension with Matt Hughes. Avenging his only stoppage loss. The cast was stacked and the drama was fun. And wasn’t it in the contract that the winner of the season is guaranteed a title shot then? They even started building a little storyline during the season which I remember generating some interest. I was mainly just stating my opinion in that post. I consider avenging the loss to Shonie Carter and beating Chris Lytle pretty decent wins. Serra was as popular as ever during that time. It was a stacked cast that season with lots of familiar faces and he came out on top. And definitely far from a bum. I try to go off of memory for how it was at the time. A quick glance at his record and seeing he dropped a few decisions before TUF I guess I can see where you’re coming from. I definitely don’t remember the majority ever considering Serra a bum though. Sounds like maybe you just personally aren’t a fan of him? I acknowledged it was an upset. I think there’s a bit of revisionist history around GSP/Serra though. Mainly from people who just look at records but don’t watch the fights and/or just don’t remember how it was during the time. It was an upset yes. Top 10. Not Top 5 on my own personal list though. The one’s I mentioned in my earlier post were way more shocking to me. Especially Gonazaga / Cro Cop

Im not saying that Serra was a bum or the guys on the show were bums,but many people thought that at the time. It's true that Serra did make alot out of the air time he had on there.

 

[The Chosen]

I mean,the final match he had to win was really boring and he barely won it,and that season was one of the lower rated seasons. People thought OK serra just beat a bunch of other bums like himself,to get a fuckin title shot. It wasnt that big of a wave. Serra sure as hell made the most of it with that win tho.

Looking back in the fight archives it’s almost comical how Serra and other WWs treated that current landscape and St Pierre, they didn’t fully realize yet GSP was leagues above all of them. Serra, Frank Trigg, etc. look really foolish after all the trash talk they said

 

[Pierced7681]

if you watch the rematch you'll have your answer.

You do realize Serra was rushed back early from an injury to fight the rematch in Montreal and had a ton of ring rust right?

 

[DarthChen731]

Yes like massive lol

 

[Dana's Moonface]

1991 does Holyfield beat him? The Mike Tyson that defeated Razor the first time? To this day I’m still not sure? Holyfield had his problems with George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and obviously ultimately lost the championship to Bowe..

I think tyson wins, but it would be a war

Holyfield was quicker then, but not strong enough to put mike on the backfoot

The mike that beat ruddock would likely be to strong for evander imo and win a late knockout

 

[r-harper-1]

Serra is a bit underrated....But for Serra to defeat one of the GOATS is obviously a massive upset

 

[r-harper-1]

I think tyson wins, but it would be a war

Holyfield was quicker then, but not strong enough to put mike on the backfoot

The mike that beat ruddock would likely be to strong for evander imo and win a late knockout

The Rudduck Tyson would mentally quit against Holyfield.....bully tactics wouldn’t work on Holyfield and Tyson would lose .....Now the Tyson that fought spinks might be a different story

 

[Dana's Moonface]

The Rudduck Tyson would mentally quit against Holyfield.....bully tactics wouldn’t work on Holyfield and Tyson would lose .....Now the Tyson that fought spinks might be a different story

He walked through ruddock

He hadn't shown quit yet

I just think he's too strong

The mike that fought spinks beats any version of holyfield

 

[ninja boot]

You do realize Serra was rushed back early from an injury to fight the rematch in Montreal and had a ton of ring rust right?

so why no 3rd fight then? I'll tell you why.
Dana, Lorenzo, Frank, Joe Silva and Serra all knew that his win was boiled down to a fighter capitalizing on a punchers chance. I'm not disputing that Serra was a great fighter but there is a reason you constantly hear GSP's name for the past 15 years as the goat and you never hear Matt's.

 

[eric n]

The one sided beat down of the rematch indicates that the first fight was a fluke of Brobdingnagian proportions.

 

[true_fan]

The truth is Matt had dangerous hands and GSP didn’t give him enough respect and got tagged and finished!

 

[Pierced7681]

so why no 3rd fight then? I'll tell you why.
Dana, Lorenzo, Frank, Joe Silva and Serra all knew that his win was boiled down to a fighter capitalizing on a punchers chance. I'm not disputing that Serra was a great fighter but there is a reason you constantly hear GSP's name for the past 15 years as the goat and you never hear Matt's.

There was supposed to be a third fight in New York, GSP promised it, but Serra had unfinished business with Matt Hughes from the season of TUF, which he lost by controversial decision. If he had won he would have had a chance of getting a rematch. It is what it is, and you’re right GSP went on to become one of the goats and Serra only fought three more times and retired.

 

[Pierced7681]

The truth is Matt had dangerous hands and GSP didn’t give him enough respect and got tagged and finished!

Yeah, GSP was aware Serra had the better jiu jitsu (both were trained by Renzo and Serra is an ADCC medalist) so he kept it standing, not realizing Serra had been training with Ray Longo and had developed his hands. He was busting guys up in sparring and almost kod Karo before tuf. GSP paid the price, he got clipped hard and tapped to strikes, and then in the rematch he knew he would be able to gas Serra out with takedowns and transitions and take over.

 

[sampuncher]

*checks join date of TS*.



Yep, it definitely was.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

St. Pierre ran through Sherk, and beat Penn, to earn a title shot where stopped Hughes inside of 2 rounds...

Matt Serra, on the other hand, was a lightweight who was dominated by Parisyan, aside from a right hand that hurt Parisyan early, when he moved back up to 170. He earned his title on a TV show, where he wasn’t too impressive, and arguably should have lost the finale bout against Lytle...