Trash talking will end tomorrow
Date: 2010-02-06 00:00:00
Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/mma/post/2...
Submitted By: MMAFightsDump
Matt Serra and Frank Trigg might have the least important fight at UFC 109 on Saturday, but they've done more than anyone else to promote their match-up. Headliners Randy "The Natural" Couture and Mark "The Hammer" Coleman have formed a mutual admiration society. Co-main eventer Chael Sonnen seems to have to say about everything except opponent Nate Marquardt, who says he's ignoring Sonnen's various tangents. Meanwhile, Trigg and Serra have been throwing insults at each other about height, tattoos, even arrogance — a pot-kettle situation if ever there was one. Talking to reporters this week, Serra rambled into a movie analogy by calling himself "Rocky with omoplatas" while labeling Trigg a shorter version of Hulk Hogan's "Thunderlips" character: Lost in the verbiage has been the match-up itself, which looks competitive on paper. Serra hits harder and has better jiu-jitsu. Trigg has a sizable edge in wrestling. It's tempting to view their main card opener as a re-run of Serra's run-in with Matt Hughes last year, a close fight that ended in decision for Hughes. Trigg probably hopes for a replay of Georges St. Pierre's second fight with Serra instead. St. Pierre neutralized Serra on the mat simply by declining to play the jiu-jitsu game. St. Pierre never tried for mount, preferring to pummel Serra from side control, even when Serra turtled. Wrestling is Trigg's bread and butter, while Serra's wrestling defense has never been strong. But Trigg has to get close enough for the takedown shot, and although he has a more sophisticated boxing game than Hughes, there's always the danger of being caught by Serra's bomb of a right hand. If Trigg avoids the big punch, he can grind out a decision, much as Hughes and Karo Parisyan did against Serra. Dodging power punches for three rounds will be a tall order, because Trigg has more to lose in this fight, which could make him tense going in. He appeared to be feeling that tension at UFC 103 in September, when Josh Koscheck ended the fight early by finishing Trigg on the mat after dropping him with a right hand squarely in the face. Although Serra will be at his usual disadvantage in height, he has proven that he can deliver punches over the top with authority and an enviable relaxation.
