10 Most Heated Rivalries In UFC History

7. Matt Serra Vs. Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes and Matt Serra were just two completely different personalities who absolutely hated each other’s guts.

What was unique about this rivalry is that Hughes had so often had rivalries based around respect and sheer competitiveness – most famously his fights against Georges St-Pierre – but the rivalry with Serra was one built on pure hatred.

Hughes was by that point viewed as a legend of the game, and he was the classic good ol’ country boy who was relatively soft spoken. On the flipside of that, Serra was a brash New Yorker who always lit up a room with his colourful language and his power-forward demeanour.

This particular feud is one that had rumbled away for a few years before finally exploding during Hughes and Serra’s time as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter’s sixth season. This all culminated at UFC 98 when Hughes got the W with a unanimous decision.

The pair may have only ever fought once, but the rivalry between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra was one of the most intense that the UFC has ever witnessed.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.