By watching Matt Serra fight you can just tell he is one of the best martial artists to ever do MMA. The guys jiu jitsu and his transitions and set ups and everything is just plain beautiful to watch its executed so well. Yeah, hes not the most well rounded fighter and he does jiu jitsu so he'll obviously have critics on this board but everyone knows this guy is badass.
Examples of things he's done that were unreal were all his sweeps and his omoplata on Carter, his leg lock attacks of Edwards, I could even see some style in his butt flop into leg locks, the way he took both their backs, man this guy is awsome! Why don't people appreciate seeing that more? Clearly it takes a ton of skill and is effective.
He lets it all hang lose, and sometimes I actually think he should let his opponents relax on the ground for a couple of minutes and once they do then attack like a maniac to catch them off guard a little more.
He does have an aggressive flop and I applaude him on that! he attacks and dosn`t just do the butt scootin boogey
Look, Serra was running up to guys and falling onto his back while clinching. You may not call it butt flopping, but I do. Even if I didn't call it that, I still find it an aggrivating technique. And I don't understand why people give him credit for being active in the guard or being active when he fights -fighters ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ACTIVE. It's like a guy saying he deserves credit for supporting his family. That's what he's supposed to be doing.
"misigoy- The more you post the more you show your lack of training/fighting experience. Matt doesn't drop to guard and stall. He drops right into leglock and sweep attempts which he has had success with in both his fights. "
I lack training in JJ, that doesn't bother me at all. BJJ is not all there is to fighting. I'm not even a fan of BJJ, but I respect and appreciate the guys who do it well, like Minotauro. I never said Serra stalls, just said that he flops to guard. And as far as having "success" with his "leglock and sweep attempts", last I checked, he is 1-1 in the UFC, losing by KO and winning by JD. I'm sick and tired of hearing about sub attempts also. I don't hear people giving strikers credit for KO attempts, so as far as I'm concerned, if you can't get the sub, then you've done nothing.
"as far as I'm concerned, if you can't get the sub, then you've done nothing."
I don't share this belief, but you are welcome to your opinions. To me, that's like saying that if a boxer doesn't get a KO, then he has done nothing.
I'm a huge Din fan and think he's a better grappler then Yves, so i think Serra will have ALOT tougher time with Din then he did with Yves.
On the other hand Serra's grappling is awesome, no doubt about it, and i don't necessarily mind someone jumping guard if they have an OFFENSIVE guard like Matt does, and he has jumped guard in at least the shonie fight.
Should be a great/entertaining fight either way.
Din by TKO.
"I dont hear people giving strikers credit for their KO attempts" - I do. That and hunting for a submission is called aggression, offense.
misigoy- Even in the Shonie fight Matt was successful. He swept Shonie several times with his butt flop.
What style do you train?
this conversation can come to an end because matt is not fighting at the next UFC. he will instead be fighting at UFC 36. i am not sure if din will still be his opponent.
I do not like butt flopping myself but Serra does not flop and stall. Just because a guy goes backward on the takedown to use his guard does not mean he is flopping. Serra uses the guard activly.
I have never felt a position was dominant unless you are using it to attack and Serra uses the guard as a dominant position as he is pressing the action from there.
vegan- You are right about Matt not fighing in Jan. Matt said that he is probably fighting in March. He doesn't know who his opponent will be.
"Frank lost to Lober in his first US fight. He fought many times in Japan and failed to sub his opponents. By the time he got to the UFC he was a very experienced fighter."
i will agree with that & that is a good point. i will take exception to the following however:
"The more you post the more you show your lack of training/fighting experience. Matt doesn't drop to guard and stall. He drops right into leglock and sweep attempts which he has had success with in both his fights."
i don't think that he is ignorant at all, in fact i agree with a lot of what he is saying. i think that people look at fights differently depending on their styles and backrounds. if you are a bjj guy then matt is awesome. but if you are a wrestler or a striker or just want to see a great fight then his is not so awesome. his JJ is great, and for a bjj practitioner he is probably doing all of the right things. but as an nhb fighter bjj does not cut it anymore. except for bj, when was the last time a bjj guy won some big fights ? minatauro does well, but i can't really think of any other pure bjj guys kicking @ss these days. people look at fights differently and like i said if you are a bjj guy i am sure matt looks awesome and is a great guy to root for. but to follow your point above, if frank failed to finish people he would not have gotten the respect he had just because he was ken's brother. its only after guys start finishing people in nhb that they get a lot of respect. heck, pat m was probably one of the best all around fighters and look at all of the critisism he used to take on here for not finishing his fights. now he is an awesome boxer/puncher and a more exciting fighter ( imo anyways ).
i am sure matt will get better as you guys say. as will din. and this should be an exciting fight.
p.s. "Matt doesn't drop to guard and stall. He drops right into leglock and sweep attempts which he has had success with in both his fights."
i guess i am ignorant too because to me it looked like he flopped at least a few times against shonie. as did jauo rouqe(sp?) against jens.
e-double- What fighters are dominating the scene? Wrestlers? Coleman, Kerr, Randleman, are amongst the most boring fighters of all time. The only wrestlers that I like are the guys from Team Quest. These guys cross train and it shows. Henderson and Couture become more complete with every fight. Lindland will also improve as his focus shifts from wrestling to nhb.
Your post is contradictory. You agree with the point I made about Frank early in his career then you say Matt doesn't compare. The point that I made about Frank was that finishes came with experience. Matt will finish as he gains more NHB experience. Remember he has fought twice in the Octagon.
Din was 1-1 in his first 2 fights. He was finished with a rear naked in his first fight(Uno) and beat Ken Allen???? in his second.
Since bjj doesn't cut it any more please tell Matt, Ricardo, Renzo, BJ, Minotauro, Sperry, Vitor, Arona, Shaolin, Newton, etc so they all can stop fighting.
No one style is enough anymore. If you use just bjj you will lose. If you just wrestle you will lose. If you just strike you will lose. The days of one style prevailing are long gone. To win you must crosstrain. If you don't think bjj is important ask Din. He obviously thinks bjj is important since he studies it.
Misigoy, I hear you about dropping to guard, it could have been the fall of MMA BUT...sheet, man, Serra is active as hell in the guard.
Dont tell that looking for a sub or sweep from the guard aint 'fighting.' Tell Mark Coleman (a fighter by all means) that you cant 'fight' from the guard.
That shit that you talk sounds a little like Tank Abbot lingo, sure, dropping to you back might be the dumbest thing you could do on the street but this aint street fighting, dude, you know where you can go for that.
misigoy, I absolutely hate butt flopping but what matt serra (notice I say "matt":) does is not butt flopping really...he just chooses to engage on the ground....Watch Vitor vs Sak to see a buttflop.....
He dosnt sit down and wait for them to come to him,he clinches,hops and attacks...</p>And personally, I think its kinda cool....and again,I hate butt flopping..
Look, Serra has skills, I recognize that. I just have a hard time liking a guy who uses a strategy that consists of running up to a guy and then falling back into guard. I can't stand seeing someone do something like that and calling it fighting. On top of doing something that bugs me so much he also fails to finish. At least if from going to guard he pulled out a sub like a Frank Shamrock then I could accept him a little more. And I don't mind being in the minority with my opinion. There was a point when the majority of people in this country agreed that Slavery was a-ok. A few years ago all NHB folks thought striking was useless and that wrestling or JJ were the only ways to go. Just because the majority of people believe something doesn't make it correct.
misigoy- The more you post the more you show your lack of training/fighting experience. Matt doesn't drop to guard and stall. He drops right into leglock and sweep attempts which he has had success with in both his fights. Both Shonie and Yves will vouch that Matt isn't a butt flopper.
Matt's subs will come as he gets more experience. Frank lost to Lober in his first US fight. He fought many times in Japan and failed to sub his opponents. By the time he got to the UFC he was a very experienced fighter.
"but he gives the fans their moneys worth."
so does a $10 hooker...
sike ! i am just messin' with you sir.
IMO, Matt could have KO'd Yves. How? Because Matt never punched him when he had his back, had the mount, or when they were on the ground. It was almost like when they hit the ground, Matt was in Abu Dhabi mode. Why? You have to ask him..but it puzzles me. I guess he is just use to the sport jj still
Had he punched from those advantageous poisitions, he would have opened up sub opportunities or KO'd him.
I think he knows that now.
"Had he punched from those advantageous poisitions, he would have opened up sub opportunities or KO'd him.
I think he knows that now."
This wasn't his first NHB fight. He should now this by now.