INDIANAPOLIS -- Matt Serra isn't dumb. He knows that when he walks into Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday night at UFC 119, he will likely be welcomed by boos, or at least silence. Since he is facing Indianapolis's native son, Chris Lytle, he does not expect anyone a big cheerin section.
"Am I prepared for the boos? Yeah. Did you see my fight in Montreal?" Serra said with a laugh at the UFC 119 press conference. "You've gotta be a good sport. This is Chris's hometown. We're both professionals. It may not resemble that, because it is a combat sport, but I'm sure, no matter what goes down, we'll be buddies afterward."
"If we fought in New York, he's such a nice guy, they'd probably boo me there, too. It's a funny thing. It's all part of the game. He's the hometown guy. I'm prepared for it. I'll still be smiling."
Serra will face Chris Lytle, a good friend of his since the two of them were on "The Ultimate Fighter." He was excited to take on the rematch because of the potential for the fight.
"What really got me excited about this fight is, since we had that fight, Chris has been insane. He has the most bonuses. I think he's got the record for that. The guy went on a tear. You're not going to find a bigger Chis Lytle fan than this guy right here. You want an exciting fighter. I don't even look at it as fighting him again. It's like fighting him the first time."
Though Serra hasn't talked any trash going into the bout, that doesn't mean he will be any less tenacious on Saturday.
"We're both going to look to take each other out. It's funny. My last two [opponents], I wasn't really crazy about. Me and Chris get along great. We were buddies on the show. I don't think you're going to see that in the cage. We'll try to take each other's heads off. But afterwards, I'm sure we'll have a Bud Light."
Serra was awarded with the Tequila Cazadores Spirit Award for UFC 119 for his work with the Ronald McDonald House, and $1,000 was donated to RMCH in his name. He said he has visited the RMCH on Long Island and was impressed by one of their patients.
"This kid Anthony was really in bad shape, I visited him in Long Island and now he's on the up. I still keep in touch with him. I like what they do. They're all about the children. That's an awesome thing."
Serra's wife's Italian cooking has been his Achilles heel. He cuts down on the Italian food before fights, but says that there's a feast waiting for him when he gets back to his home and gym.
"Eggplant rolitini, homemade pizza on the BBQ, raviolis. It's going to be bad. The only bad thing about it is that my stomach shrinks. Because of dieting, I get sick, but I'm looking forward to it."
But before the big meal, he will and Lytle have work to do.
"Good thing he's a fireman -- this is going to be cheesy -- because we're going to light this place on fire," Serra said with a thumbs up.
Thomas Hahn Torsten Hallman Bob Hannah Donnie Hansen Torlief Hansen
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