Throwback to when Matt Serra shook up the MMA world

[BC]

Leading into his fight with Matt Serra at UFC 69, Georges St-Pierre was on top of the world. The newly crowned 25 year old king of the welterweight division had just avenged the only defeat of his career in long time welterweight champion Matt Hughes, winning the fight in spectacular fashion via a second round TKO.

GSP’s UFC career was off to an explosive start, having picked up 4 dynamic finishes in his 7 victories inside the octagon with wins over Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Karo Parisyan, and Jay Hieron

GSP’s first UFC title defense was against Matt Serra.

Matt Serra earned his shot at St-Pierre by winning “the comeback” edition of The Ultimate Fighter, Matt Serra was the consensus underdog to GSP, having a record of just 5-4 in his 9 UFC fights. The odds were not in the favor of the Renzo Gracie jiu jitsu practitioner.

Matt Serra truly shook up the MMA world when he clipped the young Georges St-Pierre in the first round and secured a finish to become the UFC Welterweight Champion.

A result nobody expected, nobody except perhaps Matt Serra, who proved to everybody that the odds do not dictate the outcome of any fight, especially when you have 4 oz gloves on. This fight showed that truly anything can happen inside the octagon and it showed why MMA is such a wild and unpredictable combat sport.

After dominating Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes to earn his way back, GSP ran through Matt Serra in the rematch and would go on to win 13 straight UFC fights, 12 UFC championship fights, and become a 2 division champion to finish off his legendary hall of fame career.

To this day, Matt Serra’s victory over Georges St-Pierre ranks among the greatest upsets of all time in MMA.

 

[Mason]

Serra was a 5’5” bloated LW and had a 7 inch reach disadvantage. Serra didn’t care. He believed in his training and he made prime WW champ GSP tap to strikes.

Greatest upset in MMA history.

 

[wilKO]

Great upset victory in the rematch. Fair play to Georges.

 

[Packe7]

Post retirement he is slowly morphing into Butterbean now.

 

[Charles Wellington]

He was a terror.

 

[BC]

Great upset victory in the rematch. Fair play to Georges.

<[analyzed}>

 

[burningspear]

Imagine how insufferable the GSP apostles would be without this to temper their claims.

 

[TheOldMan]

It really was the greatest upset ever.
I didn't really like Matt at that point as a fighter, but man he earned my respect that night. Matt Serra never was the greatest at anything, but there is no denying that guys heart and courage.

 

[TNGS1]

I was shocked when he tapped to strikes
That memory has gotten better as time passes

 

[BC]

Imagine how insufferable the GSP apostles would be without this to temper their claims.

GSP’s supporters can be extreme at times I agree.

But this thread is about how great of an upset Serra’s victory was, not to spark a debate on Georges’ greatness, his accomplishments are known and he is undoubtably one of the best fighters to compete in the octagon.

 

[IndyCovaHart]

The upsets around that time were unbelievable.

It really shook things up.

 

[pick999]

Stupid ref stop fight late

 

[Congo66]

Of course it should really have been Chris Lytle fighting GSP as Serra beating him in the TUF 'The Comeback Finale' was decidedly dodgy judging.
Serra had no chance against GSP, I can't think of a bigger upset.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

It’s too bad St Pierre became gun shy ever since, but I can’t blame him for adjusting to secure wins.

 

[Franklin U.]

I'll never forget it . As a well over -1000 favorite, Georges looked like a deer in headlights. That's what I remember the most.I was outside my skin- couldn't believe

 

[PastOfPrime]

Leading into his fight with Matt Serra at UFC 69, Georges St-Pierre was on top of the world. The newly crowned 25 year old king of the welterweight division had just avenged the only defeat of his career in long time welterweight champion Matt Hughes, winning the fight in spectacular fashion via a second round TKO.

GSP’s UFC career was off to an explosive start, having picked up 4 dynamic finishes in his 7 victories inside the octagon with wins over Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Karo Parisyan, and Jay Hieron

GSP’s first UFC title defense was against Matt Serra.

Matt Serra earned his shot at St-Pierre by winning “the comeback” edition of The Ultimate Fighter, Matt Serra was the consensus underdog to GSP, having a record of just 5-4 in his 9 UFC fights. The odds were not in the favor of the Renzo Gracie jiu jitsu practitioner.

Matt Serra truly shook up the MMA world when he clipped the young Georges St-Pierre in the first round and secured a finish to become the UFC Welterweight Champion.

A result nobody expected, nobody except perhaps Matt Serra, who proved to everybody that the odds do not dictate the outcome of any fight, especially when you have 4 oz gloves on. This fight showed that truly anything can happen inside the octagon and it showed why MMA is such a wild and unpredictable combat sport.

After dominating Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes to earn his way back, GSP ran through Matt Serra in the rematch and would go on to win 13 straight UFC fights, 12 UFC championship fights, and become a 2 division champion to finish off his legendary hall of fame career.

To this day, Matt Serra’s victory over Georges St-Pierre ranks among the greatest upsets of all time in MMA.

Not the biggest fan of Serra victory since he beat my fav fighter but i agree this one is the biggest upset/fluke win in MMA History.
This shows that even journeymans can beat the greatest fighter of all time , what a crazy sport ! Also this is possibly the best thing that happened to GSP career for sure the biggest lesson learned in his career alongside the first Hughes loss never unverestimate or overestimate somebody .

Georges learnt from his losses He balanced the lessons learned from the 2 losses and went undefeated for the rest of his career solidifying himself as the undisputed GOAT.

 

[BC]

It’s too bad St Pierre became gun shy ever since, but I can’t blame him for adjusting to secure wins.

It really made him into a more dominant and intelligent fighter, he went on to win 30 consecutive rounds over the likes of Hughes, Koscheck, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, etc.

 

[Sansnom]

What Serra had coming to him was inevitable.

But hats off to him. He's one of the only 2 people to ever defeat GSP. That's a hell of an accomplishment. We probably would have never heard of him again if that hadn't happened.

 

[Perrichet]

Imagine how insufferable the GSP apostles would be without this to temper their claims.

What claims?

 

[3nigma]

That fight made GSP better.

He has never lost since.