Today, at the Prudential Center in Newark, Matt Serra takes up Hardy’s chances against GSP for the UFC Title tonight.  Serra who has trained under Renzo Graice, who in turn trains GSP, admitted:

“I was a little weird with it at first (helping Hardy out against GSP). We hit it off. He’s humble; he worked really hard. I’m rooting for him now.”

Serra, who enacted one of the great upsets in UFC title fights when he defeated GSP in April 2007, explained: “You learn a lot more from your losses than when everything goes great. I know how he fights. We wanted to work on the floor. With good guys in bad positions, escaping submissions.”

“I’m not the guy’s trainer; I was there to help him out. I’ve been in his shoes. I’ve been there before, I did what I could for him. He came in with skills (on the ground), and we just wanted to put him on the end of armlocks, difficult situations, and to me he’s a good dude, and he knows the game. If he comes across as rash, that just selling fights.  He knows it’s a fight and entertainment business. With Dan Hardy, you love him or hate him…”

As for Hardy’s chances against GSP “Mixed martial arts…It’s a game of inches. He’s got a good shot. Some people are beaten before they get in. He’s not. He really believes, and that’s a big part of it.”