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'Matthew John Serra' (born June 2, 1974) is a United States based Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist, known for winning several martial arts championships. He is the current UFC Welterweight Champion. He began practicing martial arts at an early age, first studying kung fu. In the 1990s, he began studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie and on May 23, 2000 was awarded his black belt, the first American to do so under Gracie.
Serra was born and currently resides in East Meadow, New York.^[1]

Contents

Career

Personal life

Mixed martial arts record

References

External links

Career

As a purple belt, Serra won first place at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Pan American games in 1999. Serra won third place at the 1999 World Championships in Brazil as a brown belt.^[2] Continuing his Martial Arts career, he competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.
Matt Serra runs two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gyms with his younger brother Nick Serra located in East Meadow, New York and Huntington, New York.
With Ray Longo, Matt trains fighters, including Pete Sell, Joe Scarola and Luke Cummo. They fight under the Serra/Longo Competition Team.
Matt was a participant in ''The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback'' on SpikeTV. On the show, Serra defeated Pete Spratt and Shonie Carter to reach the finals. On November 11, 2006, via a split decision victory, Serra won over Chris Lytle to become the Ultimate Fighter 4 Welterweight Tournament Champion. His win earned him a guaranteed title shot against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship, as well as a $100,000 contract and $100,000 sponsorship with Xyience.
Serra was scheduled to challenge St. Pierre on February 3, 2007 at ''UFC 67'', but a knee injury caused St. Pierre, the reigning champion, to withdraw. On April 7 2007, Serra
defeated St. Pierre via TKO at 3:25 of the first round to earn the UFC Welterweight championship.^[3] Prior to the fight, Serra was considered a substantial underdog.^[4]
Serra will be coaching season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show with Matt Hughes. The two will face off for the UFC welterweight title at the conclusion of the series.

Personal life

Matt and his wife Ann were married on May 26, 2007. ^[5]

Mixed martial arts record

|-align=center
|style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"| 'Result' ||style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"| 'Opponent' ||style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"| 'Method' ||style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"| 'Event' ||style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|'Date' ||style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"| 'Round' ||style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"| 'Time' ||style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"| 'Notes'
|-align=center
| Win ||Georges St. Pierre ||TKO (Punches) ||UFC 69: Shootout ||4/7/2007 ||1 ||3:25 ||
|-align=center
| Win ||Chris Lytle ||Decision (Split) ||The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale ||11/11/2006 ||3 ||5:00
|-align=center
| Loss ||Karo Parysian ||Decision (Unanimous) ||UFC 53: Heavy Hitters ||6/4/2005 ||3 ||5:00
|-align=center
| Win ||Ivan Menjivar ||Decision (Unanimous) ||UFC 48: Payback ||6/19/2004 ||3 ||5:00
|-align=center
| Win ||Jeff Curran ||Decision (Unanimous) ||UFC 46: Supernatural ||1/31/2004 ||3 ||5:00
|-align=center
| Loss ||Din Thomas ||Decision (Split) ||UFC 41: Onslaught ||2/28/2003 ||3 ||5:00
|-align=center
| Loss ||B.J. Penn ||Decision (Unanimous) ||UFC 39: The Warriors Return ||9/27/2002 ||3 ||5:00
|-align=center
| Win ||Kelly Dullanty ||Submission (Triangle Choke) ||UFC 36: Worlds Collide ||3/22/2002 ||1 ||2:58
|-align=center
| Win ||Yves Edwards ||Decision (Majority) ||UFC 33: Victory in Vegas ||9/28/2001 ||3 ||5:00
|-align=center
| Loss ||Shonie Carter ||KO (Spinning Backfist) ||UFC 31: Locked and Loaded ||5/4/2001 ||3 ||4:51
|-align=center
| Win ||Greg Melisi ||Submission (Armbar) ||Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 11 ||2/24/2001 ||1 ||0:46
|-align=center
| Win ||Jeff Telvi ||Submission (Guillotine Choke) ||Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 7 ||1/29/2000 ||1 ||0:30
|-align=center
| Win ||Graham Lewis ||Submission (Armbar) ||Vengeance at the Vanderbilt 6 ||8/21/1999 ||1 ||1:04

References

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External links

★ Matt Serra MySpace

★ Matt Serra Profile

★ Official site

★

★ Matt Serra's blog about The Ultimate Fighter 4