Matt Serra is in a good mood. Although it's the UFC Media Day and he's got enough responsibilities to keep three people busy, he climbs into the Octagon with a big smile on his face.

"Where do you want me?" says the UFC welterweight champ, who enters the battle zone without his belt or fight gloves.

After directing him to the part of the cage that says "Team Serra," we inform him that we need his belt and gloves.

"I don't have the belt," he says, in his Long Island accent. "I didn't know you needed it."

We'll have to settle for one out of two. As someone dashes off to grab a pair of UFC fight gloves, we start the interview with the man who knocked off GSP for the welterweight crown.

"I do not know when it will sink in that I'm the champ [UFC welterweight], but I haven't changed any," he says, while leaning against the cage. "I'm excited about it and happy about it. I said I would shock the world, and I came through. That is a great feeling. A lot of good things happened to me all at once, and they put me in a better place for my career."

One of those places is in front of millions of people on Spike TV as a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 6."

"When [UFC Prez] Dana [White] contacted me about coaching, I was excited about it," says Serra. "I was a participant on TUF 4, so now you're asking me back as a coach? I mean there were 16 other guys in that house with me who did not have a chance to come back, except Drago [Pete Sell]. It's big to me. It's great exposure for my schools, and I love competition, whether it's coaching against Matt Hughes and eventually fighting, or anything else. I'm looking forward to it."

And he likes his chances.

"I am very fortunate to have a very good crew of guys," he says. "I believe we have a lot of talent, and I am very happy with what we have."

THE INITIAL FOCUS

At the outset, Serra, who has two BJJ schools in Long Island, says the focus is on unity. Thus, one of his challenges is to bring all of the fighters together. Presenting a greater challenge is the fact that he didn't bring these guys up.

"I have to see where their weak points are," he says. "Some of my guys are fighting in a few days, so that puts me at a disadvantage, but it also puts Matt Hughes at a disadvantage."

To overcome those drawbacks, Serra will employ his skills and experience.

"Mentally, I will get in their heads," he says. "I will talk to them and share some of the wars I've been through."

One of those wars was spending a season in "The Ultimate Fighter" house on Season 4, and Serra, who recently married his girlfriend of five years, believes that will give him an edge over Hughes because he can relate to what the fighters are experiencing and guide them through what can be a difficult time.

"Matt Hughes may have been a coach before, but I know what the fighters are going through [by being in the house]," he says. "There are the mental games and the stress of being in that house. I've lived it, but Matt Hughes has not, so that is what my team will have going for it."

Extra motivation, stemming from some animosity he has for Hughes, may also provide an extra boost.

"Nothing is fake about how we are toward each other," says Serra, whose lighthearted tone has suddenly been replaced by a most serious demeanor. "He's a bully, and that's how I think about him. He's your typical bully. The difference is he can't bully me."

For proof, Serra suggests checking the tape from Season II, when Hughes was a coach.

"Go back to see how he treated and talked to fighters," he says. "He is not talking to me that way. He knows he can't go anywhere with it, and I'm game for whatever. A typical bully is the guy who will pick on the easy target because he [the easy target] is not going to come back at the bully or say something. He will sit there and think, "I'll show him in the ring and bite my lip now." I, however, won't bite my lip. If he [Hughes] gets mouthy, I'll get mouthy right back. If he gets in my face, I'll get right up in his, so he knows that. He's not going to get anywhere that route. I don't like the way he talks to others. He may not be totally di**y to me, but he might try a little bit. Other guys he can be downright disrespectful to. I'm not a guy who will take shit from him."

LIGHTENS UP

Serra lightens up again, as the conversation changes from Hughes.

"I am just in a very good position in my life," he says. "I am happy to be where I'm at, and I could not be where I'm at without guys like Ray Longo. In fact, I would not have taken this coaching job if he had not come along."

Serra says he has the ground game, but Longo is the man for standup.

"Even though I took care of GSP on my feet, as far as the [standup] coaching goes, it does not get better than Ray Longo," says Serra. "I owe my BJJ to Renzo Gracie and my standup to Ray Longo."

And he'll be looking to display both facets of his game when he faces Hughes.

Is the Shoot Awkward?

"Everybody in the UFC is a tough guy, but it's all about being professional. I'm not an insecure guy. We'll do our business here, but we're going to fight when this thing is over. I do not want to hang out with the guy, but I'm not going to say I won't do a photo shoot with him. I don't care. We'll take the pictures. We won't even shake hands after. You go your way, and I'll go mine. I'm looking forward to beating him in the competition, and I'm looking forward to beating him in the Octagon." - Matt Serra, talking about doing a shoot with Matt Hughes

Want To Train With Serra?

If you'd like to learn how to handle yourself on the ground, check out Matt Serra's instructional DVDs. Got to Serrajitsu.com.

"I am very excited about these," he says. "These are basics DVDs. This is the way to go for anyone who wants to make his foundation stronger or who has never trained in his life."

"He's Not Much of a Champion"

- Matt Hughes Talking About Matt Serra

Immediately after the last photograph, Matt Hughes makes his way through the crowded UFC training facility, heads directly to an office and plops down on a couch. His mood immediately seems lighter than it was just moments ago when he and Serra posed inside the Octagon.

"No, Media Day is not fun for me," says Hughes. "I do not like being in front of cameras. Plus, I just did a face-off. It's not that I hate Matt Serra, but he's not one I would pick to spend the afternoon with. But I got to do it. It comes with the territory."

But it's a territory he entered reluctantly.

"To be honest, I didn't want to do the show again," he says, matter of factly. "I have got a 10-month old girl, and I have stuff to do on my farm. I am financially secure, so I did not need my name to be any bigger, to be honest. I just did not think I needed to do the show again."

The opportunity arose when UFC president Dana White called.

"He said, 'You can really help me out if you do Season 6 with Matt Serra, which will end with you guys fighting when it's over.' Dana is a very good friend of mine, and he conveyed to me that he needs my help. He also said he thought it would be a good mix, so that weighed heavily on my decision."

Hughes told White that he needed a day to discuss the offer with his wife.

"My wife and I discussed it and thought back to the great time I had on Season II," says Hughes. "I made a lot of friends, the coaching went great and my wife said I should do it. With her telling me to go ahead and do it, I did. If she had said she didn't think I should do it, I would not have done it."

Hughes called White the next day and gave him the green light, and the fighter from Illinois is glad to be back.

"I love coaching, and I have a good group of guys," he says. "I will show them some things, and I am sure there will be some things I pick up on."

Robbie Lawler and friends are on his coaching staff, and Hughes, the former welterweight champ, says he's also looking forward to his family's arrival for the second half of the season.

"It will be a good time," he says.

OBSTACLES ALONG THE WAY

But that does not mean there will not be challenges.

"I have eight guys I really don't know much about," he says. "I made my selections yesterday (in June), and I only had a chance to look at them for 2-3 hours before I had to choose my team."

Not only is that not much time, but he did not get much of a chance to evaluate their personalities.

"I could have eight different people who like doing their own thing," he says. "I've got to bring them together as a team. People do not realize how much a team matters in an individual sport, and I expressed that yesterday in a team meeting. I told them that training with your buddies can make you a champion and if you lose you can still help your buddies by training hard."

Hughes, like his counterpart, will also utilize his experience to assist in his coaching.

"I will try to make these eight guys better fighters," he says. "I will teach them how to train, how to prepare for a fight and what has brought me through the ups and downs."

GOING FOR GOLD

To prepare for his fight with Serra, which is scheduled for December, Hughes says he'll look to familiar names.

"I think I will get hold of Randy Couture and work out at his gym, and Robbie Lawler is a great workout partner," says Hughes. "I also have my boxing coach, Matt Pena, so I will get to work on a lot of stuff, and I have some great grapplers. I am pretty set."

When asked where the animosity between he and Serra developed, Hughes only speculates.

"I've never said anything bad about Matt Serra," he says. "The worst thing I've said is I was surprised to see him win that fight (against GSP), which I am. I think nine times out of 10 Georges wins that fight. I have never done anything to him that I know of. So for him to go off and say what he has on TV has not made me mad, but it shows me he's not much of a champion. As a champion, you've got kids watching you and people looking up to you. I just don't think a champ should go out and act the way he has."

One of the kids who won't watch a Serra interview is Joey Hughes, Matt's seven year old.

"If Matt Serra does an interview, Joey doesn't get to watch it because he's cussing and doing this or doing that," says Hughes. "When Matt Serra shows these tapes to his kids [when he has kids], he'll have to say, 'Do as I say and not as I do.' I'm not a believer in that, as a coach or as a parent."

The Laugh Heard 'Round the World

A UFC cameraman caught Matt Hughes laughing when Matt Serra defeated GSP. Following is Hughes' explanation.

"A lot of people thought I was happy that Georges [St-Pierre] lost [to Serra], but that's not the case at all. I was happy because Matt Serra had been running his mouth a lot. If Serra had lost, he was probably going to lose his next fight and be out of the UFC."

"For me to fight Matt Serra, which I wanted to, he would have had to win. When Matt hit him with that punch and stunned him, I was laughing because that meant I got to fight Serra. And it was astonishing that Matt Serra even won. I think there are lot of people laughing at the fact that this lucky punch hit Georges.

"I like Georges, and he's a great guy. He usually thinks things out before he says them, so he made a better champion than Serra did in (that respect). So, I was happy that I finally got to fight Matt."

A Fighter's Perspective

Ben Saunders is a member of Team Serra. The 24-year-old fighter talks about his expectations for the show.

THE HOUSE

I anticipate the time in the house as a love-hate relationship. Once we get a few weeks in, I am sure that people will get aggravated and hate others in the house. It's a single sport but we're a team, and it will get crazy. In the meantime, the whole opportunity itself is nothing but good.

BIGGEST OBSTACLE

I think the biggest obstacle will be keeping my sanity in this situation. I have never trained with any of them at any point.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

These guys are all cool as hell, man. Thank, God. They all seem to have a good sense of humor and are nice.


Matt Arroyo
Age: 24
MMA Record: 2 - 1
Hometown: Cobleskill, NY
Matt Arroyo left the cold winters of Cobleskill, New York, behind after graduating from high school in 2000 and attended the University of Tampa on a baseball scholarship. In 2003, he began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Rob Kahn of the Gracie Academy in Tampa. Fascinated by his new interest, Arroyo quit baseball and, by the time he graduated in May of 2005, he had alr eady achieved a purple belt in BJJ.

Daniel Barrera
Age: 26
MMA Record: 1 - 0
Hometown: Rupert, ID
Barrera says the two things he'll miss most while on the show are his wife and going to church. He is currently pursuing his degree in criminology, but he has put that on hold while pursuing his dream of becoming the next Ultimate Fighter.

Blake Bowman
Age: 25
MMA Record: 4-3-0
Hometown: Carrollton, GA

After high school, he attended West Georgia University and graduating in 2004 with a degree in psychology. Away from the gym, Bowman is an avid Auburn football fan and a music aficionado.

Mac Danzig
Age: 27
MMA Record: 17-4-1
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

In 2000, Danzig traded in his skateboard for the mats of Casey Leonard's gym in Pittsburgh, achieving a blue belt under his tutelage. He is an avid photographer, as well as a diehard Steelers and Penguins fan.

Paul Georgieff
Age: 24
MMA Record: 7-1-0
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
He is currently pursuing his master's degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.

Richie Hightower
Age: 25
MMA Record: 7-1-0
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
After high school, Hightower took a job as a mortgage broker and stopped exercising. His health suffered, and by the age of 21, he weighed 265 pounds. That is when he gave up smoking and drinking while taking up plyometric strength training with a physical therapist.

John Kolosci
Age: 32
MMA Record: 8-4
Hometown: Portage, IN

A three-sport athlete at Edison in Lake Station High School, John took immediately to BJJ and soon began competing in local MMA bouts. He notes that he will miss his fiancee and 11-year old daughter while in the house.

Troy Mandaloniz
Age: 27
MMA Record: 3-1-0
Hometown: Hilo, HI
A childhood friend of BJ Penn, Troy Mandaloniz was introduced to grappling in the fourth grade by Penn's father. Mandaloniz's first love was football, and he played tailback on the Hilo High School football team for four years.

Billy Miles
Age: 29
MMA Record: 2-1
Hometown: Loomis, CA
Billy Miles earned his Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Sacramento State and his Master's from Chapman University. An avid music fan, his taste is very eclectic as he lists everything from Johnny Cash to 50 Cent to techno music.

Roman Mitichyan
Age: 28
MMA Record: 8-1
Hometown: Republic of Armenia

Roman Mitichyan is not your usual MMA fighter. Born in the Republic of Armenia, he moved to Los Angeles in 2000, via Moscow, to pursue a career in acting. Now a member of Team Hayastan, Roman trains under Gokor Chivichyan and with "The Ultimate Fighter 5" runner-up Manny Gamburyan.

Dorian Price
Age: 29
MMA Record: 8-2
Hometown: Baltimore, MD

After graduating from Hampton, Dorian moved to Columbus to attend graduate school at Ohio State University where he ultimately attained his MBA in 2005.

Jared "J-Roc" Rollins
Age: 30
MMA Record: 9-3
Hometown: Long Beach, CA

Born and raised in Southern California, Rollins graduated from Chapman University with a B.A. in Advertising, but he realized he would rather pursue his passion to be a MMA fighter.

Ben Saunders
Age: 24
MMA Record: 4-0-2
Hometown: Orlando, FL

An Orlando native, Ben enters the house with six professional fights under his belt and currently trains with the legendary American Top Team.

Joe Scarola
Age: 28
MMA Record: 6-0-0
Hometown: East Meadow, NY

Living and training for six weeks in Las Vegas won't be too bad for Joe Scarola. As a member of Matt Serra's Serra Jitsu Academy on Long Island, he'll be seeing familiar faces in the desert, including Serra, Pete "Drago" Sell and Ray Longo.

George Sotiropoulis
Age: 29
MMA Record: 7-2
Hometown: Geelong, Victoria (Australia)

As a child in Australia, this self-described thrill seeker was always looking for his next rush. George competed in several sports such as Australian Rules Football, cricket, mountain biking and karate; however, it wasn't until he found the UFC that he found his fix.

"Farmboy" Tommy Speer
MMA Record: 9-1-0
Hometown: Rochester, MN

A 2003 graduate of Elgin Melville High School in rural Minnesota, Speer was an all-state cornerback for the football team, played basketball four years at the varsity level, and made nationals as a wrestler his senior year.