Matt Serra's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Moves to Levittown

With his first professional earnings, East Meadow native and UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra invested in Serra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academies, two Long Island based facilities committed to top quality mixed martial arts training.

Late last year, Serra and his academy outgrew their first location in his hometown of East Meadow. They moved to a 12,000 square foot location on 2949 Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown, offering more than twice the space they had in East Meadow.

"It was a problem that you want to have. We were becoming too big for the location," said Serra, who founded the academy in 2001. "I upgraded my Huntington school around two years ago and it was just time for the East Meadow crew to do something new."

Serra, now a Massapequa resident, started his journey into the world of mixed martial arts in 1992 under the eye of world famous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor Renzo Gracie. He became the first American student of Gracie's to be awarded a black belt in May 2000.

"I fell in love with the art," Serra explained. "Renzo's school in Manhattan was basically like my college. He took me under his wing and I ended up all over the world with fighting."

From there, Serra's career soared. In 2001, after making a name for himself in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappling, the UFC took notice and invited Serra to fight at New Jersey's Taj Mahal. Serra continued on to earn a spot on SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter which bought him a shot at the championship title against Georges St-Pierre.

Serra became one of only two people in history to defeat St-Pierre. "It was kind of an insult and a compliment at once," he said. "Everyone thought I'd lose but I proved them wrong."

"My wins and my losses have made me who I am today, but winning the Ultimate Fighter on Spike did wonders for my career," he added. "Besides seeing how I fight, people got to know me as a person."

Although Serra climbed to the top in professional fighting, his schools always came first. Over the last decade, Serra feels he has formed a family here on Long Island and that's something that he'll never grow out of.

"At 37, I'm lucky to not have taken too much physical damage from being in the UFC," said Serra. "I know I can't fight forever, but I can always teach and that's what I love."

"I'm blessed with competent, seasoned teachers that can always stand at a class here if I can't," he added. "Our gym offers a really great atmosphere and the skill can't be matched."

For the remainder of January, the Levittown academy will be hosting every Saturday. More details can be found on the school's website.