Trigg: Losing to Serra not an option

Frank Trigg makes no fuss about it. His chance at redeeming his first-round TKO loss to Josh Koscheck comes with a caveat: Losing to Matt Serra – a loser of his last two bouts and also on notice – is not an option.

“For sure it’s [a must-win],” Trigg told me during an interview for my UFC 109 piece on FightMagazine.com. “I lost to Koscheck and I’m going to lose to Serra? If I lose two in a row there’s no reason for the UFC to keep me. Serra’s in that same position. You have to start thinking about what’s going to happen.”

First on his mind is Serra, who’s TUF Season 4 win boosted his profile and led to a title shot against Georges St. Pierre (no need to remind you how he fared). GSP dominated Serra in the rematch and after a 13-month layoff to heal an injury to the ulner nerve to his left elbow suffered in the aforementioned rematch he dropped a close decision to rival Matt Hughes last May.

“Serra’s great on the ground and he’s improved his stand-up,” Trigg said. “He has a heavy left hand and body blow and I must be conscious of his big right hand,” Trigg said. “He’s very strong and compact for his weight class and like trying to fight a bowling ball. He’s a former champion for a reason.”

Painfully obvious what will happen if Trigg loses, I began asking him, “What if you win?” He cut me off. “When I win.” Trigg is ready and willing, and insists he's able.

“I’m taller and better looking,” Trigg said. “As much as Matt has improved the last couple of years he’s still pretty much the same fighter. I’ve had to adopt my style.”

Trigg’s experience against GSP at UFC 54 was the polar opposite to how Serra fared in his first fight thanks to humbling a rear naked choke submission defeat in the opening round. The loss would be Trigg's final appearance in the UFC until UFC 103, almost 50 events later, and he used the time away to compile a 7-2 record on the independent circuit that took him to Denver, Honolulu and Satiama, Japan, where he earned a win over 2006 Pride Fighting Championships welterweight grand prix winner Kazuo Misaki at Sengoku 4.

“After I was run over and destroyed St. Pierre , UFC color analyst Joe Rogan called me an amateur,” Trigg said. “I looked like an amateur [and thought], ‘What do I have to do to fix that? Every training came I have to find something new.’ I want to prove that I still have some game left and I’m up for the challenge. After I beat Serra I’m not going to be a contender, that’s not going to happen, but I want to be a contender after the next couple of fights.”

RIP Bob Shamrock, '10's top contenders, Almeida feeling great

Another week nearly in the books and it's actually been (kind of) light in the MMA world. There's actually a break between shows that started after Monday's UFC Fight Night and will end January 30 with Strikeforce Miami. Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis for the vacant welterweight title, and Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen in Cyborg's first defense of the women's crown headline a show that also features the Strikeforce debut of Bobby Lashley and the MMA premiere of Herschel Walker. Appearing on the preliminary card is fellow Long Islander Jay Hieron (Freeport) against veteran Joe Riggs.

Sad news hit the MMA world late yesterday with the passing of Bob Shamrock, the adopted father of MMA legends Frank and Ken Shamrock, at the age of 68 due following a long-term battle with various health complications due to diabetes. Bob's impact on the brothers was amazing. He kept the boys out of trouble by turning them to sports and resort to fist fight - provided he supervised it - to settle their differences. Frank & Ken grew up to be fighting champions, and are forever legendary and among the best we'll ever see.

I penned a piece for FightMagazine.com that went up today, which looks ahead at the top contenders in each of the UFC's weight classes in 2010. Lots changed since I filed the original draft earlier in the week. Frankie Edgar is next for B.J. Penn, while Nate Marquardt will secure his middleweight title shot against the winner of champion Anderson Silva vs. Victor Belfort - if Nate the Great gets past Chael Sonnen at UFC 109 in a few weeks.

That night I'm looking forward to also watching two of my favorite fighters and people in the game, Matt Serra and Frank Trigg, oppose one another. Then there's the main even featuring two active legends, Randy Couture and Mark Coleman. The Natural struggled in defeating Brandon Vera, but put together a classic with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira back in August. When two old, great warriors collide, you usually see something special, and that's what I'm expecting from Couture and Coleman. Heck if Couture wins he may get one last shot becoming a two-time UFC light-heavyweight champion.

Get psyched, Jersey. The UFC's return to the Garden State (UFC 111 in Newark on March 27) is loaded. The top three bouts are Georges St. Pierre-Dan Hardy, Shane Carwin-Frank Mir and Thiago Alves-Jon Fitch. It's also loaded with Jersey boys Ricardo Almeida, Jim Miller and Kurt Pellegrino. I spoke with one of Almeida's coaches this week. He told me Big Dog, 3-1 since returning to the UFC (and that defeat was to Patrick Cote via split decision), is "feeling great" and in awesome shape having worked his way back from a knee injury that prevented him from competing at UFC 106. MMA becoming legalized in New York State is looking inevitable with Gov. David Patterson publicly endorsing the sport. This card is a hell of a way to seal the deal, or if it's done by then allow lawmakers with open minds to tell themselves, "I made the right decision."

Joe Lauzon, off a crushing loss to Sam Stout earlier this month, said in a release that he hopes his next fight will be in his backyard when the UFC makes its Boston debut this August. Lauzon had Stout in trouble early, but failed to finish him and was pummeled by the Canadien in dropping a unanimous decision, but that was his first fight in 10 months after having knee surgery to repair his ACL. Lauzon gutting out the best performance of Stout's career to date earned them Fight of the Night honors.

“I’m obviously disappointed in the result,” Lauzon said. “It was an entertaining fight, but that’s not what I want to be known for. I focused on the health of my knee and it held up. I didn’t concentrate on my overall condition and I was a little rusty. I trained like a maniac six days of the week, twice a day, and then I couldn’t do too much for six months.”

Thanks to everyone for reading and following me on Twitter. I'm still penning my takes on the Yankees and Rangers, and have a story on the boxing/MMA relationship out in this month's edition of TapouT magazine (Issue 34). Though we're still months away, I'm gearing up for working UFC 111 on site at the Prudential Center. Expect a lot more stuff happening until then.