“Matt Serra’s A Great Guy…I Don’t Hold Anything Against Him”

November 26, 2007

This past week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra was one of the more controversial ones ever as Head Coach Matt Serra refused to corner against two of his fighters.

In case you missed it, problems arose when four of Serra’s fighters (Matt Arroyo, George Sotiropoulos, Troy Mandaloniz and Richie Hightower) were picked to fight each other. Obviously, Serra couldn’t corner two fighters at the same time so Dana White decided to flip a coin to determine which two fighters would train with Team Hughes for their quarterfinal showdowns.

While Arroyo and Hightower were chosen to train with Hughes, Serra was still unhappy. He refused to corner Sotiropoulos and Mandaloniz in their fights and thus left his fighters to fend for themselves.

This decision appeared to be a big distraction for Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz as he prepared for his fight against Matt Arroyo. Coincidentally or not, Mandaloniz ended up losing to Arroyo via arm bar in the first round.

A tough loss for the Hawaiian and one he would surely love to forget – Mandaloniz will get another chance at UFC glory on 12/8 when he faces Richie Hightower on the TUF Finale.

Mandaloniz talked to me about his MMA career as a fighter and referee, his experience on the show and Serra’s decision not to corner him. Be sure to listen to his comments on Matt Hughes’ definition of what it means to be “professional.”

Troy Mandaloniz – 11/25/07