Interview by Eric Velazquez | Photos by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
PUBLISHED: April 15, 2008
Welterweight champ ready for GSP rematch.
Matt "The Terror" Serra.
The name alone is enough to let you know this guy has charisma—and balls the size of Atlas stones. But when he landed what seemed to be a thousand punches to the grill of the then-feared Georges St. Pierre en route to a TKO victory and the UFC welterweight championship back in April of 2007, "terror" was all that spectators could think of to describe the scene. "GSP" was beaten about as badly as a fighter can be beaten in the Octagon, despite being a heavy favorite to the smaller, less experienced Serra. Now, just over a year later, Serra and St. Pierre are getting set to tangle again in this weekend's (April 19) highly-anticipated UFC 83.
Serra, who has not fought since his win over GSP due to a back injury, says he is fully rehabbed, injury-free and that training has gone better than he could have hoped. The champ chatted with M&F between training sessions this week.
M&F: How has your training gone in preparation for this fight?
Serra: Training has been excellent—sparring, rolling. Mentally, physically, I'm ready to go buddy.
M&F: What's a typical training day like for you?
Serra: Well there's the technical part, which is sparring and technique, watching fight tapes and all of that stuff. Then there's the physical part which is crazy demanding. Plyometrics, sprints, long distance runs—all that fun stuff.
M&F: What kind of distance runs do you do?
Serra: When I do my long, low-intensity runs, I stay on the treadmill for 45-50 minutes and that's not at a fast pace. When I do that it helps me keep my head straight and keeps the furnace burning. Then for sprints, it's the football field. I go out there with my coach Ray Longo—he's like a mad scientist. I'll go out to one goal post and do 25 push-ups, then to another goal post and he has me do all sort of other exercises. And it's back and forth until he stops the torture.
