The previously unbeaten Rousey, who went into last weekend's fight as MMA's reigning rock star, is living her own nightmare now - a 20-1 favourite left unconscious and bleeding. 'This is my worst nightmare,' St-Pierre said that night in Houston. Serra needed just three minutes 25 seconds in April 2007 to dethrone St-Pierre in his first title defence. And he had just avenged a 2004 loss to Matt Hughes, widely viewed as the greatest welterweight champion ever, to claim the 170-pound crown at UFC 65 in November 2006.
The Montreal MMA star was seen as younger, bigger and faster, with more weapons at his disposal.
St-Pierre, then 13-1 as a pro, was a 10-1 favourite to dispatch Serra. A happy-go-lucky sort, Serra (8-4) had to win a season of 'The Ultimate Fighter' reality TV show devoted to veterans making a comeback just to earn a title shot. Serra was an inflated lightweight, albeit one with a big right hand and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Georges St-Pierre feels (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey's pain like perhaps no other.Įight years before Rousey was dethroned by Holly Holm at UFC 193, St-Pierre lost his welterweight crown to Matt (The Terror) Serra at UFC 69 in a shocking upset of his own.
