Matt Serra vs Matt Hughes Set for May 23rd

MMA Weekly (link below) broke the news on Monday that Matt Hughes and Matt Serra had verbally agreed to fight each other on May 23rd.

Serra and Hughes were the two coaches on the sixth season of the Ultimate Fighter. The two fighters were originally supposed to square off for Serra's Welterweight title at UFC 79, but Serra was forced to withdraw due to a back injury. Georges St. Pierre stepped in for Serra and ended up defeating Matt Hughes for the interim Welterweight title.

Serra and Hughes both have a tremendous amount of disdain for one another. This developed during the sixth season of the Ultimate Fighter and continued to build throughout the season. The two still do not like each other, and this should just increase the entertainment value of the fight.

Both fighters are coming off of crushing defeats in their last fights. Serra was thrashed by Georges St. Pierre at UFC 83, and Matt Hughes was beaten by Thiago Alves in a match that left him with multiple injuries.

This could very well end up being Hughes' last fight. He has been hinting at retirement for a while now - if he loses to Serra, then I really doubt that we will see Hughes fighting again. If he wins, he will likely keep fighting (in my opinion).

Serra will be looking to re-establish himself as a viable contender in the UFC's welterweight division. He has kind of fallen off the map due to a number of injuries and a one-sided loss against Georges St. Pierre in 2008. Matt Serra definitely needs a decisive victory over Matt Hughes at this point of his career - I would say that Serra has much more riding on this match than Matt Hughes does.

This should be a great fight - let's hope that both fighters remain healthy between now and May.

Source: MMA Weekly

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