Fightin' Words

By Joe Fernandez

There's a picture of former UFC welterweight champion and Long Island native Matt Serra on their web site. The picture reads: "You can help me fight in New York."

The UFC-sponsored site is mmafacts.com. It's main objective is to "educate the readers on the sport of mixed martial arts and to advocate the regulation of the sport in New York," according to a spokesperson.

To have your voice heard, click on the picture of Serra then follow the directions to contact your representative in Albany.

By Joe Fernandez

In an effort to have mixed martial arts sanctioned in New York, representatives of the Ultimate Fighting Championship will visit Albany on May 6.

At 1 p.m. at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center, New York fighters Matt Serra and Matt Hamill, along with UFC staffers Marc Ratner, Lawrence Epstein and Michael Mersch will hold a press briefing, according to a source, then meet with legislators to highlight the positives that they believe MMA would bring to New York, including increased state revenue.

The last Ultimate Fighting Championship show, UFC 83 in Montreal, sold out the Bell Centre with 21,390 people at the April 19 event.

Fightin' Words readers: If mixed martial arts was sanctioned in New York, which two MMA fighters would you like to see headline a card at Madison Square Garden?

By Joe Fernandez

With Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's knee injury and more recently Chuck Liddell's torn hamstring, the UFC has decided to shake up its lineup for UFC 85 in London.

Looking at the reality of having a Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin main event, the UFC has announced that former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes will fight Thiago Alves in the final matchup of the O2 Arena card.

According to the UFC, the event can be seen live at 3 p.m. on June 7 in the U.S on pay-per view. With already a couple of changes to the main event, no titles on the line and rising UFC PPV prices, the UFC should consider giving this fight away for free on SpikeTV to the loyal fans that spend nearly $500 a year on their pay-per view shows.

By the way, this is not a good fight for Hughes, who is coming off a devastating loss to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Alves is hungry and confident after knocking out perpetual welterweight contender Karo Parisyan. I see Alves winning by KO/TKO.

Even though he had a great showing in his middleweight debut at UFC 83 against Charles McCarthy, England's Michael Bisping has a quick turnaround when he fights iron-chinned Chris Leben less than two months after his last fight. Look for Leben, who has two consecutive knock outs, to KO the crowd favorite in the second round.

Fightin' Words readers: Do you think that this card should be seen for free on SpikeTV, or do you feel it deserves to be on pay-per view?

By Joe Fernandez

Running on a Bally's treadmill or having the chance to train with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling and Muay Thai kickboxing champions -- The choice is yours.

Former UFC champion Randy Couture is coming to Long Island and he's bringing a gym with him.

The MMA legend is opening a brand new Extreme Couture MMA & Fitness center in Centereach on May 18. Couture, who owns five other Extreme Couture gyms across the U.S., will run a seminar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. The 6,000 square foot facility is slated to have a boxing ring, an octagonal cage, mats, and an area for weight training and cardio equipment.

Some of the coaches listed on the site include Port Jefferson product and Suffolk wrestling champion Kurt Wagner, ISKA world kickboxing champion Ken Hewski and strength and conditioning coach Jay Evers. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructors will include Grand Master Francisco Mansur and Jeff Sanford from Kioto Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, an academy with locations all around Long Island.

The gym is located at 2120-A Middle Country Road, Centereach, NY 11720. For more information, visit Extreme Couture MMA -- New York.

By Joe Fernandez

According to the UFC, former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell has withdrawn from his June 7 fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 85 because of a torn right hamstring he suffered during training last week.

No replacement has yet been named for the London card. The 38-year-old Liddell (21-5) earned a unanimous decision win against Wanderlei Silva in his last bout at UFC 79 in December.

Liddell was originally slated to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, but the former Pride star ruptured the ACL in his left knee for a second time and was forced to withdraw from the card. With most of the major light heavyweights either locked into another fight or injured, Liddell, a major name and star in the sport, will not be easy to replace.

Apologies for the technical glitch with the video the last time we posted the Matt Serra-Georges St. Pierre post-fight press conference. But we learned about it on Sunday's drive home from Montreal, and well, that's not exactly a short drive down the street and the wireless router doesn't fit in the lighter.

But alas, here's the video again and you should be able to view all three minutes and 15 seconds of it this time. If not, call your local cable provider.

Here is some post-fight video of an interview we had with Matt Serra after his fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 83 in Montreal. Enjoy.

Hey. Check out my fight story from Montreal as Georges St. Pierre TKO'd UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

Thanks for reading.

-- Joe

By Joe Fernandez

No surprises here.

Montreal's Georges St. Pierre entered the Octagon receiving unending love from the sold-out crowd of 22,000-plus and UFC welterweight champion came out to the Octagon cascaded by boos.

First round has to go to St. Pierre. He had two big takedowns against the champ, which ignited this crowd. Then the interim champion punched away inside Serra's guard. The welterweight champion survived but has a big bruise on his right eye.

Second round: This is the St. Pierre that is unstoppable. This is the St. Pierre that is the new welterweight champion. After taking down and pounding away on Serra's face and body, referee Yves Lavigne jumped in and stopped the fight with 17 seconds left in the second round as St. Pierre wins back the title.

I've never heard a crowd get this loud in my life.

Stay tuned for the fight story and the quotes.

By Joe Fernandez

First round went to Travis Lutter as Rich Franklin escaped a first-round armbar attempt, but couldn't stop the takedown. But Franklin was able to stuff the shot in the second and keep the fight on the feet. He picked apart his gassed opponent and eventually knocked Lutter down to the mat and earned the second-round TKO.

The main event is up next.