GSP Replaces Serra for UFC 79

That's right. Apparently, Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes III will be for an interim welterweight title. The UFC sure does love them some interim titles. Why they don't just say that GSP and Hughes, or BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson, will be fighting for top contender status I'll never know. Read more from UFC.com.

As you can see, UFC 79 is looking real good these days:

GSP-Matt Hughes

Chuck Liddell-Wanderlei Silva

Lyoto Machida - Thierry Sokoudjou

Injured Matt Serra Scratched from UFC 79

UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra suffered a herniated disc while training on Monday and is no longer scheduled to defend his belt against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on December 29. Serra was quoted with the following:

"This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I’ve never had a back injury before; I could hardly get off of the MRI table. There is no way I can train through this, and I’m devastated, especially because this was such an important fight. I was looking forward to fighting Matt Hughes. All my training was going phenomenally until Monday – all I can do now is to get better and to fight again as soon as possible.”

Read more from UFC.com.

Not to Point Fingers or Anything...

"Matt Serra’s been his coach for years, so you’ve got to think that came from the gym back in New York or that came from the coaching there on the reality show. So I’ve gotta say that it’s probably Matt Serra’s fault he left."

- Matt Hughes on Joe Scarola leaving the TUF 6 house.

CBS Sports Interview with Dana White

Sam Caplan recently interviewed Dana White as part of a CBS Sports interview. Here are my favorite parts:

Babalu Sobral being released from the UFC: "Babalu is showing a bad track record lately. I don't like the direction he's been going in, and he needs to straighten his life out if he wants to continue to be a professional athlete."

I agree. Babalu was arrested in Miami a few weeks back, and his UFC 74 post-fight commentary and overall attitude was Bush League, especially for a fighter of Babalu's status.

A UFC return for Babalu?: "Absolutely. I like Babalu. He's a good guy and a good fighter."

That's what I like to hear.

Georges St-Pierre’s next fight: "He'll fight the winner of Hughes/Serra. And yeah, we're trying to do a fight up in Canada, so that one would make a lot of sense."

This will make for a great headliner, but I feel bad for guys like Karo Parisyan, Jon Fitch, and Diego Sanchez who are still waiting in line for their shot. Oh well...

A title shot for Roger Huerta?: "I think he's probably a good year away."

Thank you. I've been saying for a while now that Huerta is not yet championship material. Plus, the more he fights (and wins), the brighter his star will shine. That was fruity...

Fedor Emelianenko’s management team: "I don't like to talk about contract negotiations with the public but it didn't go well. These guys are crazy."

Dana, watch your mouth.

Liddell vs. Wanderlei on December 29?: "It's possible. Liddell would have to win. Liddell would have to come out injury free. There's a lot of ifs."

Keith Jardine is quite possible my single least favorite UFC fighter.

Josh Barnett: "He's just a punk. You know what? The thing is I don't want to even talk about Josh Barnett. Nobody even cares about Josh Barnett. I got Mirko Cro Cop, the guy that just beat the s**t out of him (Barnett). I'm not interested in Josh Barnett at all as far as who he is as a person or as a fighter or how he represents the sport. I don't like anything about him."

And Cro Cop just got his head kicked in by the guy Couture just embarrassed. Barnett is worth signing.

Denis Kang: "Denis Kang was supposed to be on Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter but he ended up getting a good deal over in Korea. This is a guy we were looking at to be on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, I wouldn't call him one of the major superstars in MMA or one of the major superstars from Pride."

Kang on TUF? I never knew that had been in the works. I'm a Kang fan, but I agree with Dana; Kang is not a major superstar. He's close, but there are certainly bigger names out there.

Gilbert Melendez: "I'm very interested in him. He's under contract with someone else right now. But yeah, I'm very interested in him."

I'm glad Capalan asked about the undefeated Melendez, who's one of the most under appreciated fighters out there.

For the rest of the interview, click here.

2007 Kodiak Half-Ass Awards

Since we’re halfway through what has been an excellent year for mixed martial arts, it is my pleasure to present to you the first ever Kodiak MMA 2007 Half-Ass Awards. The captain has asked that you bring your seats to the upright position and turn off all cell phones, pagers, and electronic devices.

Best Fighter: Dan Henderson

Not only did Hendo move up from 185 to take the 205-lb. belt, but he became the first non-heavyweight to knock out Wanderlei in 9 years. That goes a long way in my book.

Like he did in their first fight, Henderson stood in Wanderlei's face and threw bombs against the stronger, larger opponent. Adding to the glory of this fight was not only the dramatic KO win, but the overall pageantry that only a Pride title fight can deliver. Makes me sad a little, actually...

Soon enough, Henderson will hold the UFC light-heavyweight strap after he beats Rampage Jackson at UFC 75, but let's not get off topic.

Randy Couture also receives special recognition, but I'm giving this one to Henderson for holding two of the sport's most coveted belts at once, and for being a better pound-for-pound fighter.

Best Fight: Nick Diaz - Takanori Gomi

After 3 straight UFC losses to Diego Sanchez, Karo Parisyan, and Joe Riggs, Nick Diaz made his Pride debut against explosive lightweight champ Takanori Gomi at Pride 33 on February 24, 2007. Long story short, Diaz took some serious punishment from Gomi but ultimately outlasted Gomi, picking him apart with stinging jabs and hooks and finishing him in stunning fashion.

Unfortunately, Diaz tested positive for Delta-9-THC, and the fight was ruled a No Contest, but it remains one of the greatest fights that I have ever seen.

Best Submission: Nick Diaz Gogoplata

Please tell me the last time you saw a decorated champion be submitted by his opponent's shin. The best part of this submission was that my man Diaz held onto it - and possibly tightened it - for a little bit after Gomi tapped.

Biggest Upset: Matt Serra over Georges St. Pierre

Long Island's own Serra not only beat the younger, faster, stronger, heavily favored welterweight champ in his first title defense, but it's how he beat him that earns him this distinction. Serra is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wiz who truly did shock the MMA world when he overwhelmed St. Pierre with punches and stopped him in the very first round without ever employing any of his BJJ skills.

Rampage/Liddell - Not an upset at all. Gonzaga/Cro Cop - At least some people were giving Gonzaga a chance, considering his strong ground game in the cage.

Best KO: Gabriel Gonzaga

The relatively unknown Brazilian heavyweight scored a shocking KO win over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic with the Croatian’s own trademark move, the head kick, and left the former Pride star lying virtually lifeless in the center of the octagon.

Best Newcomer: Frankie Edgar

The Team Rhino fighter opened eyes with an awesome win over the heavily favored Tyson Griffin at UFC 67 and then showed us that he’s for real at UFC 73 when he handed Mark Bocek his first MMA loss with a with a Round 1 TKO.

I fully understand that this honor belongs to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, who's beaten much better competition in more convincing fashion and has better hair, but something about Edgar gets me fired up.

Best Fight Camp: Team Quest

Dan Henderson now holds two Pride championship titles, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou scored stunning KO wins over Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rigiero Nogueira, Matt Lindland stepped up and fought Fedor Emelianenko like a bastard, and Ed Herman - yes, Ed Herman - displayed very slick submission skills over Chris Price and Scott Smith in the UFC's talent-starved middleweight division. And Chris Leben has pink hair.

Best Champion: Urijah Faber

Faber, the WEC featherweight champion, has not only made 3 title defenses so far this year, but he submitted all 3 challengers in the very first round with both chokes and strikes. In addition, he's scheduled to fight again as part of WEC's September 30th card. The "California Kid" is for real.

Best Fight Card: Pride 33 (2/24/07)

This was a no-brainer. Pride 33, the penultimate Pride event as we knew it, gave us 9 fights in 2 hours and15 minutes, and only one went to a decision.

- Dan Henderson KO Wanderlei Silva
- Nick Diaz sub Takanori Gomi
- Shogun Rua KO Alistair Overeem
- Hayato Sakurai TKO Mac Danzig
- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou KO Antonio Rogiero Nogueira
- Joachim Hansen sub. Jason Ireland
- Frank Trigg def. Kazuo Misaki via decision (and then did color commentary)
- Sergei Kharitonov sub. Mike Russow
- James Lee sub. Travis Wuiff

Best Post-Fight Interview: Din Thomas

After tapping out Jeremy Stephens at UFC 71 (May 26) with an oh-so-lovely armbar, "DinYero" addressed members of the boxing community who had been knocking MMA. Thomas clearly felt slighted by their remarks about the UFC and MMA and issued a challenge to Kermit Cintron and Floyd Mayweather: “You wanna fight? I’m the mothaf***a to fight!”

Best Mike Goldberg Quote:

“That’s the best looking BJ we’ve seen in a long time!”

He also referred to the UFC 73 card as "the greatest card top to bottom in the history of combat sports." Nope.

Biggest Moron: Phil Baroni

Baroni called out Frank Shamrock, talked plenty of gahbage, got his ass whooped, and then tested positive for two types of anabolic steroids. Shortly thereafter, Baroni posted homophobic slurs about Georges St. Pierre and offended all of Canada on MySpace.

Worst Overall Beating: Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine

Jardine wasn't too thrilled with having to face newcomer Alexander UFC 71 and felt that he deserved tougher competition. Early on, Jardine landed a solid right hook that staggered Alexander. Jardine pursued but Alexander recovered, muscled Jardine against the fence, and landed 19 unanswered hooks, uppercuts, and knees that ultimately left Jardine face down on the mat with his mouthpiece a few feet away.

I watch this fight at least once a week, not only because of Alexander's awesome display of punching power, but because I absolutely cannot stand Keith Jardine. His jerkoff nickname bothers me, and he throws the ugliest punch I think I've ever seen.

Biggest Disappointment:

Diego Sanchez’ girlfriend is UFC ring girl Ali Sonoma. In case you were curious, Ali is a modelactressstudent who likes seafood and OutKast and is turned on by "confidence, optimism, and great sense of humor." Damn you, Diego.

Let’s do this again in six months, shall we?

Serra Jiu-Jitsu Launches Another Star

Matt and Nick Serra's star pupil, Joe Scarola, will be competing for a UFC contract and whatever trimmings come with winning it all as part of The Ultimate Fighter 6.

The boys over at Serra Jiu-Jitsu in Long Island certainly have been making big waves lately in the MMA world. Nick Serra captured the CFFC welterweight title earlier this month, Matt Serra wears UFC welterweight gold, the Kodiak scared away some teenagers who were hanging out in front of his house last week, Pete "Drago" Sell was part of one of the most spectacular UFC fights in recent history, and Luke Cummo opened plenty of eyes as he ran through the competition on TUF 2. And now it's time for another Serra product to rip shit up.

Joe Scarola, a BJJ blackbelt and Serra Jiu-Jitsu head instructor, will be one of 16 welterweights who will be coached by champ Matt Serra and his future opponent, Matt Hughes, as part of TUF 6.

During my tutelage at Serra Jiu-Jitsu, I had the pleasure of receiving instruction a few times from the 28-year-old Scarola, who was the first to earn his black belt under Matt Serra (who was the fiirst American to earn a black belt under Renzo Gracie). Scarola is the man. His BJJ is top notch, and he adds to that an arsenal that includes Muy Thai kickboxing and Kempo.

Naturally, I expect Serra to pick his star pupil as early as possible, but what would happen if Hughes, in the spirit of competition (and possibly disdain) were to pick Scarola? Things could get interesting.

For more about Scarola, the Serras, and the Serra/Longo fight team, click away, bitches.

UFC Confirms Three Biggies

- UFC middleweights Kendall Grove and Patrick Cote will face off at UFC 74 on August 5. If Cote couldn’t finish Scott Smith, I don’t see how he’ll manage the much bigger, much more lethal Kendall Grove.

- UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra will make his first title defense against Matt Hughes in Las Vegas on Dec. 31 -– not in New Jersey in November. The change of venue was made public on Hughes’ web site. A New Jersey fight would have been huge for Long Island's Serra.

- The winner of the Sean Sherk/Hermes Franca UFC lightweight championship match at UFC 73 next weekend will make his first title defense face BJ Penn, UFC president Dana White told ESPN’s “The Hot List.” Looks like BJ will be picking up a lightweight championship before jumping back up to the UFC's glamorous welterweight class. Not to brag or anything, but once I heard that the BJ Penn/Jens Pulver fight was set, I told my friend Ross that Penn would definitely get a title shot if he were to get past Jens. Damn, I'm good...

Hughes and The Terror in the Garden State

As we all know, UFC welterweight champ Matt "The Terror" Serra will make his first title defense against former champ Matt Hughes, and I just got word that their fight will most likely - not definitely - be in November (UFC 79, I presume) at the Continental Airlines Arena in scenic East Rutherford, NJ.

Not familiar with East Rutherford? Think of the Sopranos intro. Right after Tony goes through the toll booth, he's in that shitty, depressed looking area - all highway, factories, warehouses. Welcome to East Rutherford.

The UFC returning to NJ for the first time since 2005 is certainly a boon for Long Islander Matt Serra, who is sure to have plenty of hometown supporters cheer him on against a somewhat reviled Matt Hughes (which I can't really understand).

I wonder if Serra/Longo fighters Pete "Drago" Sell and Luke Cummo will be signed to the card, as well. I'd love to see Cummo back in the octagon.

I have had some Brazilian jiu-jitsu experience under the tutelage of Matt Serra (starting before his TUF 4 run), and believe me when I tell you that you'd be hard-pressed to find a more friendly, accommodating guy anywhere. Serra clearly loves to teach, and I believe him when he says that no matter how his fight against Hughes goes, he's already won.