No, the headline you just read is not some elaborate "November Fools" joke.

UFC.com has revealed that the highly-anticipated welterweight title showdown between Matt Serra and Matt Hughes scheduled to take place on Dec. 29 at UFC 79 in Las Vegas has been postponed.

UFC president Dana White is quoted as making the announcement on Thursday and indicated that Serra is out of commission after having sustained a herniated disk in his back while training this past Monday.

“This is devastating news because they were so looking forward to fighting each other," White is quoted as saying.

Fight fans will no doubt be disappointed by this news but it's obvious that few people are more disappointed at the turn of events than Serra himself.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” the article quotes Serra as saying. “I’ve never had a back injury before; I could hardly get off of the MRI table. There is no way I can train through this, and I’m devastated, especially because this was such an important fight. I was looking forward to fighting Matt Hughes. All my training was going phenomenally until Monday -- all I can do now is to get better and to fight again as soon as possible.”

The UFC gambled by taking the welterweight title off of active duty so that Hughes and Serra could build even greater interest in their rivalry through reality television. While the tension for the two has made for compelling TV at times this season on The Ultimate Fighter, in the end, was it worth it?

Not having Serra vs. Hughes for UFC 79 is not the end of the world but the card itself is not overly deep with compelling matchups on paper. Matchups between Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Ryoto Machida, and Melvin Guillard vs. Rich Clementi are very intriguing but the card was built around a double-main event between Serra vs. Hughes and Liddell vs. Silva.

Now, one of those main events is suddenly gone. 

The UFC also now finds itself in a position where it may be forced to offer fans a second consecutive pay-per-view card without a title defense.

Hughes vs. Serra is still going to happen at some point but the show's conclusion was being timed perfectly with UFC 79 on Dec. 29. It's possible that the two may not end up fighting until the show's seventh season has commenced. Interest level in a grudge match between the two will remain strong but will it be as strong as it had if the match took place on Dec. 29?

Needless to say, the injury to Serra and the cancellation of his match with Hughes at UFC 79 could affect how company's decisions when choosing coaches for each season of TUF.

The UFC must now scramble for a match to replace Serra vs. Hughes. No announcement was made regarding a replacement and no indication was given whether Hughes will remain on the card. Moving another high-profile welterweight such as Jon Fitch or Diego Sanchez into Serra's slot is one option but they will run the risk of spoiling a matchup between Hughes vs. Serra. If Hughes were to fight on Dec. 29 and lose, there's no rule that says his next match couldn't be against Serra but it would be very hard to sell Hughes as a title challenger when he's coming off a loss.

The other option would be to keep Hughes on ice until Serra is ready and replace the match with two fighters not currently scheduled to fight on the card. That will be easier said than done at this point as many top UFC fighters are unavailable because they are either injured, just competed at UFC 77 or UFC 78, or are already scheduled for future cards. 

B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson are scheduled to fight for the interim lightweight title on January 19 at UFC 80 in New Castle, England and the promotion could always move that match up in date. However, in doing so, UFC 80 would then be without a scheduled main event.

The UFC has been in this position before and have come through in the clutch so there's no reason to think they won't get creative and come up with a intriguing match to replace Hughes vs. Serra. However, due to the timing and limited availability of marquee names, they will no doubt be put to the test. 

It will also be interesting to see how long Serra is sidelined. There are fighters in the past who have competed with a herniated disk but the levels of severity vary greatly when it comes to such an injury. The article also clearly says "discs" which means Serra may have sustained significant damage that could force him to undergo surgery. Getting injections and undergoing rehab might be able to help him in the short-term but it would likely be hard for him to train on an extensive basis without aggravating the injury. Ultimately, it will be medical officials who could very well decide Serra's next career move.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com