From ‘Suicide Watch’ to Sublime

Twelve weeks of promotional hype largely went belly-up over Thanksgiving, when UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra (Pictures) pulled out of a Dec. 29 title defense against "Ultimate Fighter" nemesis Matt Hughes (Pictures).

But less than a day after receiving the news, UFC President Dana White was able to pair Hughes with another rival, Canadian Georges St. Pierre (Pictures), in a rubber match that looks to make good on the UFC's promise of a substantial New Year's celebration.

White, Hughes and St. Pierre fielded questions from journalists Monday, with all parties presenting as happy -- if not downright elated -- with the change.

"If this were boxing, the event would've been canceled," White said. "I have nothing but respect for these two for stepping up."

Serra notified White that he had herniated two discs in his back during a routine training session last week. Mired in what he described as a "suicide watch," White started looking into potential replacements.

"Nobody was knocking down our door to fight Hughes on short notice, except for St. Pierre," said the UFC president, who then phoned Hughes with the news.

"My wife says I was a little bit depressed the day I found out about it," Hughes recalled. "I won't disagree. I was just really excited to fight Serra … then I really started to think about it, started to pray on what I should do, to fight, not fight, fight [Jon] Fitch or Diego Sanchez (Pictures) or rematch Georges. I had a big decision, what's good for me, good for the UFC, and good for the people watching the sport. And St. Pierre was the fit."

Hughes had previously made mention that he had his "reasons" for accepting the fight on short notice, and while he declined to elaborate completely, he did reference both the locale and the seeming disadvantage for the Canadian as two selling points.

"I know Georges likes taking a couple months [before a fight], structuring workouts, and so I'm hoping to catch him a little off-guard," he said. "And I'll be fighting him in Las Vegas, not up in Canada."

But St. Pierre rejected any notion that the late notice will prompt a sub-par performance.

"I'm on the top of my game right now," he said, noting that present and future training partners for his bout with Hughes will include Denis Kang (Pictures) and Keith Jardine (Pictures). "I'm in great shape. I had been training with Rashad Evans (Pictures) to get him ready for his fight [against Michael Bisping (Pictures)]. The only thing I've not been doing is eating as well as I should."

St. Pierre's diet aside, the former welterweight champion said he had been training with the premonition that he might be called up. "People are going to think I'm crazy, but I had a feeling this could happen. … I'm the type of guy who trains all the time, no off-season. … I knew it would be a possibility for one fighter to get injured, so I wanted to be ready to step in, in case that happened."

While Hughes hoped that St. Pierre might be disjointed, he admitted that his training regimen is now focused around what he dubbed the tougher fight.

"I'm fighting a lot tougher opponent than Serra," he said. "Certain things I'll definitely change, techniques I'm working on. I'm just trying to get in the best shape of my life, and that won't change."

The bout marks the first time in his UFC career that Hughes has trained outside the guidance of Pat Miletich (Pictures), having opened his own gym with Robbie Lawler (Pictures) closer to home.

"My workouts are a lot better now, much better than they've been in the past," Hughes said. "Up at Pat's, no one really told me what to do. I did what I wanted. Here, I've got some great coaches, and they tell me what to do. I don't have the option of saying, ‘I don't feel like doing all that today; I'm just going to run on a treadmill.' It's human nature to take the easy way out."

One obstacle, Hughes acknowledged, was finding motivation to replace the eagerness he had in facing Serra, who repeatedly lobbed verbal insults at the former champion. "I would much rather fight Serra, just for the built-up anger I've got right now with what he's said.

"Now my motivation is, if I can beat St. Pierre [again] … that's a heck of a milestone."

The bout -- which was made, White said, without any financial "bonus" to either party -- will be for an interim welterweight title, both to allow Serra time to recover and to make concessions for both fighters' wish that the bout be five rounds. White said he had not given any thought to stripping Serra.

"He's doing everything he can to get better," White said of Serra, who stopped St. Pierre in April to claim the belt. "The kid just got hurt. If he's going to be out for a long time, yeah, we'd have to strip him."