As a 4th degree BJJ black belt under Renzo Gracie and an ex-UFC Welterweight World Champion, there aren’t many better people to have coaching you between rounds than the legendary Matt Serra, but he’s now about to retire from giving live advice. He broke the news that will no doubt be a blow for a lot of elite fighters at the Serra-Longo Fight Team on a recent appearance on the UFC Unfiltered Podcast, of which they posted a clip on their official Instagram account. The decision stems from the recent opportunity that Aljamain Sterling had as one of three title-fights to top UFC 259 and the notable absence of Serra from his corner:
“When I found out I wasn’t in it, I gave Aljo a call. I felt stupid, because I made a call before that and left a nice message. Then I got the call from Longo and he said, ‘How are you out of the corner? It’s your team.’ I said ‘You f-cking tell me.”
Understandably, it’s hard not to take a decision like that at least somewhat personally. It’s unusual for an experienced coach like Matt Serra to discuss something like this in the open, but it’s refreshing to hear an honest account of his decision to retire from acting as cornerman, and an in-depth look into his feelings around the event:
“But at the same time, I didn’t want his head f-cked up before the fight, so I didn’t attack him. I called him and left a message and said, ‘I love you and I’m here for you either way if you need me.’ I told Aljo a few weeks before he left that the COVID sh-t is crazy so if you need to use bodies I understand. But when you’ve been with a guy for that long — first of all, Aljo texted me and said he would call me back, but I didn’t hear from the kid for three days. I don’t want to be over-sensitive, but how do you think those nights were sleeping? I’m just hurt. I know you’re busy and things are going on but I gotta know what the f-ck I’m doing.”
“My thing is, going forward, it’s better now to make an exit on a high note. I loved cornering, but what is it for the next fight, is it me and Nicksick with rock paper scissors to see who gets to corner? I have a family. I will always be in this kid’s corner, just not physically anymore. And not by my choice, but by the choices that are made here. So I’m retiring from the whole cornering thing.”
