Matt Serra
I'm always involved with training and the martial arts. It's not like I go to a desk job somewhere and then throw on the gloves.
My mental's always there - the physical's not always there.
I know Lytle likes to bang, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to take me down. Not for fear of my hands, but strategically he could look to put me down. He's shown he's very dangerous with submissions. His ground game has been very underrated.
I'm not the guy to get beat down when I shouldn't have gotten beaten down.
I've always bragged that I fought some guys in the Hall of Fame, legends like B.J. Penn and Matt Hughes and they always knew they were in a fight, but now I'm in there, so I can't even use that line.
I don't gotta walk around like Mr. Macho Man.
I ain't tall, but I'm not angry. I'm not angry about not being tall. I like it. It's like the automatic underdog all the time. So it's awesome.
I'll crack jokes in the locker room, I don't care. I don't gotta impress nobody.
It's a rarity in this sport that you really get a guy that's not a good person. I think we've found that in Matt Hughes.
What is a 'lucky punch?' Who do these people think I was trying to punch in the face if not Georges? Seriously - where did the luck come into it? I got him hurt and didn't let him off the hook.
I always loved cornering.
I knew I wanted to learn jiu-jitsu and maybe one day I would have a challenge match or something like one of those crazy in-action things.
I felt like I lived my movie, my 'Rocky' movie. So that was cool.
I need my jiu-jitsu, man.
Even if you see me with some pasta, I'm still strangling and arm-locking people at least five days a week and I need that.
I worked night security for Estee Lauder. It was horrible. I worked from midnight till 8 in the morning. I did that just so I could sleep during the day, then go into Manhattan to train with Renzo at night. I would train, then go work all night in a guard booth.
I don't need to kickbox or box every day.
When Joe Silva called me with the Trigg fight, I said, 'Hell yeah.' It's a matchup that excites me a lot.
I do believe that 'Aljo' could be world champion. If you look at the fighters he's faced and beaten, they're high caliber people. He's also faced and overcome adversity, including back-to-back losses in fights he could have won.
Aljo has already beaten a former world champion in Renan Barao, and I thought he fought masterfully, using all these ranges beautifully. He's like the Black Panther showing the world who he is.
Once that cage shuts, I'm the one in control of my destiny.
I don't get caught up in the hype, the so-called experts, the Internet; they're not in there with us.
I judge how I'm going to fight by how I'm fighting in the gym, and that's how I'm going to perform.
What I pull off in sparring I should be able to pull off in a fight.
I don't go out of my way to be a smack talker, you can ask me about anyone and I'll give you my honest opinion.
No matter what I think about Matt Hughes, and it's not much, he's a dangerous opponent.
When I beat GSP it's not like I was getting my butt handed to me and I just closed my eyes and landed a punch.
If I beat Hughes they'll say he was done before our fight. There's always going to be those guys that play up the negative part of it, I don't pay too much attention to that.
I was a decent-sized kid growing up. I was never a small kid.
I was a normal height back in the day.
I'm a New Yorker, I say what's on my mind, because not being that way, what's the point of that? People may think this is hype, but you look back before at my other fights and you see that I don't talk trash.
Me and Hughes, we're two different kinds of people.
This game has such extreme highs and lows.
I am an expert on the floor and I am dangerous in all areas, not to toot my own horn.
My teachers used to point to the jail across the street and say that's where my fists would land me.
I get to help a lot of teenagers and kids that were maybe like me when they were younger. Now they have the jiujitsu so they can compete and be tough guys that way.
It is not overwhelming, like you are George Clooney, but at the Starbucks, at the 7-Eleven or walking around Manhattan or the Roosevelt Field Mall, I do get recognized. It's nice.
When I'm an old dude in a rocking chair, I'll have these great war stories.
The glass is always half full for me.
Georges has been running through top competition.
I'm not going to get a shot at the title and be timid, that's for sure.
I don't watch any sports; I'm just being honest.
When you're used to fighting in a cage, nothing scares you.
I love my schools. I love teaching. I change lives.
I always look at things in a positive light.
You want to push a guy up against a cage, there's nothing like pushing a car.
If you talk to somebody else, they can say whatever they want about you, but I'm pretty secure with what I've done and my fights. Win or lose, it's all experience, and it shapes the person you are and the instructor you are.
I've had a great career I feel.
Good thing it's a fight and not a modeling contest or you'd be f#cked.Collection: Fighting