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Matt Hughes, the farm boy, will finally take on his arch enemy Matt Serra, the city boy, sometime in April 2009 at a yet-to-be-named UFC pay per view event. The source comes directly from former UFC 170lb champion Matt Hughes’ blog:

…a possible date for Serra and I is in April. I don’t know the exact date right now or venue. So, that is something that I can look forward to and I can set my training up for that schedule.

Both guys have been on hard times lately, with Serra losing badly to Georges St. Pierre in their rematch and suffering an elbow injury in the process, and Matt Hughes got absolutely demolished by Thiago Alves and injured his knee while falling to the mat.

The two were originally set to face off in December 2007 at UFC 79 “Nemesis”, but Serra had to pull out with a back injury. The two were opposing coaches for season 6 of the Ultimate Fighter, but the build-up for this fight began as early as season 4, where Serra stuck up for St. Pierre as he was getting teased by Matt Hughes.

I think this is likely the last big money fight for Serra before he fades back into obscurity, while Hughes could use a win after suffering three losses in four fights, with the lone win coming over journeyman Chris Lytle. Hughes is on his last legs as well, and his dream of one day challenging 185lb champion Anderson Silva is absolutely, positively, dead.

Following his crushing, highlight reel TKO loss to Thiago Alves, Hughes strained his knee when he crumpled backwards in a heap.  There was fear amongst some of his fans he may need surgery to correct the partially torn ACL, but he provided us with a bit of an update:

Last Wednesday, I went in for my second MRI and also a stress x-ray. It all came back very positive and looks as though I will not need surgery. I still have to go back for my three-month check-up to find out more; but as of right now I can do more and start exercising a little bit.

The plan for Hughes is to finally square off against the anti-Matt, Matt Serra.  The two first began jawing at each other on season 4 of the Ultimate Fighter, and had all of season 6 to build to their eventual showdown at UFC 79.  Unfortunately, Matt Serra injured his back and had to pull out of the fight.  The two are penciled in to finally fight in early 2009.