April 5th saw Matt Serra facing pain that put him in the emergency room for four days after cornering one of his fighters at Ring of Combat in Atlantic City; he then faced a surgical procedure which saw the removal of one his ribs which led fans to see the potential exit of Serra from mixed marital arts competition.
A former UFC welterweight champion and ADCC submission wrestling world championship silver medallist, Matthew John Serra (Also known as ‘The Terror’) began practising martial arts at a young age starting off with the study of Kung Fu; the 1990s saw Serra begin his studies in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, under Renzo Gracie which led to him receiving his black belt on May 23rd 2000, Serra was the first American to have obtained a belt under Gracie and also one of only two people in MMA to have defeated Georges-St Pierre (the other being UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes).
Serra began to compete in the UFC organization where he was able to build up a record of four wins and four losses, Matt then became a participant in The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback, which was aired on Spike TV, the show saw Serra defeat Pete Spratt and Shonie Carter to reach the finals, avenging the loss he faced to carter at UFC 31 in the process. November 11th, 2006 saw Serra become the Ultimate Fighter Season 4 Welterweight Tournament Champion, this win gave him a title shot against Georges St Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship.
Serra went on to coach Season six of the Ultimate Fighter reality show alongside Matt Hughes, Team Serra finished 6-2 in the first round of fights with Six consecutive wins however, the second rounds were not in Team Serra’s Favour as they were unable to corner a single fighter to victory and saw each one of his trainees lose out.
Season 6 saw rivalries arise, Serra relieved fellow fighter Joe Scarola from his duties at Serra’s Jiu-Jitsu School after he reportedly quit the Ultimate Fighter within the show’s first week, which led to Scarola opening his own academy resulting in a feud between the two former friends. A scheduled face-off between the TUF coaches was set for the welterweight title, however a herniated disc in his lower back forced Serra to withdraw from the fight.
After announcing to NBC Sports that his back was rapidly improving, Serra added that he was indeed scheduled to fight Georges St Pierre at the first UFC event to take place in Canada – UFC 83, this match would be the unification of the interim and regular welterweight belts, the fight took place on 19th April 2008. St-Pierre forced Serra into the turtle position in the second round and delivered multiple knees to Serra’s midsection, it became clear that Serra was unable to improve his position or defend himself against the strikes which led to Referee Yves Lavigne ending the bout.
In an interview with Newsday, Serra made it clear that he would like to fight one last time at New York’s Madison Square Garden (Should MMA be legalised in the New York State) but if it didn’t happen that he would definitely consider himself done, adding that “It’s hard to say the R Word, I might never say the R Word”.
With Serra about to become 39 and his academies doing well, he has made it clear that he is really going to walk, saying that if he hung on for the glory he wouldn’t be able to leave as “Glory is a drug, and that’s the problem,” he added.
He contemplated one more fight but the after the painful ordeal he has faced in the past six weeks it forced him to see things in a new reality, he first felt the pain in his left arm after a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training session at one of his academies only two days before the Ring of Combat event, but brushed it off assuming it was just a pulled muscle.
He came back home after the fight, thinking the pain would stop but instead it intensified with Serra not being able to bend his arm, which forced him into leaving his Massapequa home at 2 a.m. and drive to the emergency room at Winthrop university hospital in Mineola. After taking a few tests, Doctors revealed that Serra had two blood clots in his arm with another in his lungs.
The clots caused significant health issues. Serra’s collarbone and first rib were compressing a blood vessel and restricting blood flow, a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome, Serra had the first rib on the left side removed in early May.
Despite Serra not being able to bring himself to say the word ‘retire’, his MMA career is essentially over, he has decided to now focus on working with his academies, with two successful ones in Levitton and Huntington and a recently third opened in Bayside, he is working to create affiliated Serra BJJ schools across the country, a system where those who have earned black belts under him would be able to open their own academies under the Serra BJJ Flag.
With Serra and his wife expecting their third child alongside their two daughters Angelina 4, Maria 2, he has admitted to enjoying spending time with his kids and family.
“I can still knock some of these guys out and be a threat on the ground, but that used to be the thing that made me happiest, now I whistle to work going to my schools…I love hanging out with my kids and family. That is something you never really anticipate or understand till you have a family…”
Vanessa Charles
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