Matt Serra will finally get his long awaited chance on Saturday night to attempt to put an epic beat dwon on his most hated rival, Matt Hughes. The two fighters are part of the 11 fight UFC 98 card that is set to take place on May 23rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Online bookmaker Bodog.com has Matt Serra listed as a 2 to 1 betting odds underdog in his match-up with Hughes. 

Serra, who coached opposite Hughes on The Ultimate Fighter 6, has been out of the cage for over a year. He last fought in April of 2008 when he relinquished the interim welterweight title to Georges St. Pierre. The New Yorker suffered a back injury after the fight that sidelined him for several months.

However, his absence from the Octagon has done nothing to squelch his severe dislike for Hughes.

"I'm lucky to get back in there with a guy like Matt Hughes," Serra said. "There's nobody in the world I'd rather fight right now. I think that he's a stuck up kind of guy; he's a smug guy. I'm so happy I get to fight him."

Despite the personal nature of the fight with Hughes, Serra knows that the former champion is no pushover inside the cage. Serra indicated he is not so blind with rage that he cannot see how skilled Hughes as a fighter and he has prepared accordingly.

"Matt Hughes has been very good at what he does which is take guys down and beat them up," Serra said. "I know where he is dangerous so I have to go back to what I am great at."

Matt Serra, who is 16-5 in 21 professional MMA fights, believes his training has put him in the best position to take Hughes out. Regardless of his respect for Hughes strengths, he still sees him as somewhat one-dimensional.

"I had a very hard, but a very smart training camp for this fight" Serra said. "I feel really well prepared for this fight. He's pretty simple in the sense that he thinks he's the bigger guy, he can bench more and he can win with the size advantage and the wrestling, but there's more to it, and as you get older in this game you rely more on technique."

Bodog.com UFC 98: Matt Serra 2 to 1 Betting Odds

Matt Hughes (5/13) vs Matt Serra (2/1)

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