As I was doing my homework for this article, one fact became increasingly clear. Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg may be outclassed entirely in his fight with Matt “The Terror” Serra at UFC 109 this Saturday. I don’t want to come off like a Trigg hater because I honestly like the guy. He is a Kurt Angle “mini-me” – it’s hard to hate a U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist look-a-like. It’s almost anti-American to do so. Let’s take a gander at some facts shall we…

A look back over the fighting career of Frank Trigg shows nineteen wins over MMA’s “Who’s Who of the Most Average”. Not that I’m taking away his toughness – all MMA fighters are some of the baddest men (and women) on the planet, but Frank has done a great job at marketing himself to be a more successful sports figure than he really is. Although he does have a victory over Jason “Mayhem” Miller, that hardly qualifies him to be recognized as MMA elite. He was a great color commentator for PRIDE FC, promoted his own sports apparel line, and did a short-lived but classic stint on TNA wrestling. There is no doubting his many talents, but he will need more than the above mentioned accomplishments to get a victory over Matt Serra.

The Terror

While Matt Serra certainly doesn’t have a fighting resume comparable to BJ Penn or Georges St. Pierre, he has proven himself to be a capable fighter and has rolled with some of the toughest in the sport. Serra’s wins over Georges St. Pierre, Chris Lytle, and the very competitive Yves Edwards are impressive. Serra’s decisions losses to BJ Penn, Karo Parisyan, Din Thomas, and Matt Hughes are nearly equally impressive in that it shows that he is able to go the distance with world class fighters. Matt Serra has proven he can hang with the best. Frank Trigg has shown that he can compete, at best, with average fighters.

Seriously though, if an average wrestler with average striking and submissions can beat a decorated BJJ Black Belt – the first American BJJ under Renzo Gracie to be precise- then maybe I underestimated him. Maybe Frank Trigg is all that he says he is. Anything can happen in a fight but I’m calling second round submission victory for Matt Serra.

Scottie Farrow is a fightpros.com contributor. Follow Scottie on Twitter @yodade37

Triggonomics 101