Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

MONTREAL - Official weigh-ins for UFC events are usually relatively routine. One by one, the fighters come out, strip down to their drawers in front of a few thousand strangers, step on a scale, pose in a staredown with their opponent and walk off the stage.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

And in that regard, UFC 83 was no different than normal. Except for a staggering crowd that likely drew between 7,000-8,000 fans, nothing too unusual happened.

But we did get the answer to one question: How many people does it take to drown out Matt Serra? Answer: ALL OF THEM.

There surely were a few brave souls in the Bell Centre crowd cheering on the New York-bred UFC welterweight champion, but if there were, they had no chance to be heard if the loquacious Long Islander could not be heard over the arena speakers.

Serra, who weighed in at 169.5 pounds, a half-pound shy of the welterweight limit, was drowned out in a sea of boos from the moment he walked onto the stage until the time he disappeared behind the giant curtains hiding the fighters from the public. But even still, he found a way to get his message across.

All it took was two fingers.

As he walked up the podium steps he grinned at the thousands serenading him with boos and raised his index and middle fingers. But he wasn't giving a "Peace" sign; he was predicting a second win over his opponent, Montreal native Georges St. Pierre.

"You're pissed now?" Serra said to the crowd. "Wait until Saturday night."

St. Pierre, meanwhile, basking in the warmth of his hometown crowd, tried to diffuse the personal back-and-forth between the two combatants and put the focus back on the perhaps-final resolution to take place on Saturday.

"I don't fight with anger, I fight with my heart," said St. Pierre, who also weighed in at 169.5. "Don't believe the hype, believe what you see on Saturday night. You will see the best Georges St. Pierre ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever. I can't wait."

The first match between the two lasted just 3:25 and ended with one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history. Serra was as much as a 10-1 underdog in their first encounter, but was never in trouble and rocked GSP multiple times before finishing him with a flurry on the ground.

This time around, Serra is still an underdog, but the line has closed to around 3-1. Still, the champion takes it as a sign of disrespect. There aren't too many comforting faces around the city, either. And Serra has joked that instead of having his head trainer, Ray Longo, in his corner, he will have him waiting outside with his car running.

Serra relishes his underdog role, but if 7,000 people could be so loud in drowning him out, it will be interesting to see how much louder the Bell Centre will be when full. The event is a sellout, and a capacity crowd of near 22,000 fans will attend.

This time, they drowned him out. On Saturday, Serra hopes to return the favor.

Bisping, McCarthy exchange words
Whether on The Ultimate Fighter or since beginning his UFC career, Michael Bisping has never been shy about expressing his opinions, and so it came as no surprise that he took advantage of his first encounter with opponent Charles McCarthy to fire off some verbal warning shots.

Last month, McCarthy angered Bisping when he called him a "very, very average fighter," and insinuated that the Brit's reputation was built on hype. Bisping countered by telling NBCSports.com he believes McCarthy to be "mentally weak" and adding, "he seems to crumble under pressure."

Bisping, fighting in the middleweight division for the first time, made weight, checking in at 185.5 pounds, while McCarthy was at 186 (non-title fights get one extra pound for scale inconsistency).

Immediately after weighing in, Bisping walked over to McCarthy, posed for their traditional staredown photo and the two exchanged words until UFC President Dana White pulled the two apart.

Scarola still rooting for Serra
UFC fans haven't heard from Joe Scarola since he left the last season of The Ultimate Fighter after losing to eventual champ Mac Danzig.

At the time, Scarola and Serra were best friends, and Serra was the coach of Scarola's team. Everything was perfect until Scarola lost and wanted to go home. Serra tried to talk him out of it, but Scarola decided he had to leave.

Unfortunately, the situation caused a rift in their friendship, and the two rarely talk anymore, but Scarola will be rooting on his fellow Long Islander on Saturday night.

"Even after everything that happened, I still hope he does well," Scarola said. "I'll be watching, and wish him the best."

Since few men have such insight into Serra, it was worth asking him his thoughts on Serra's mental frame of mind being such a heavy underdog with an entire arena rooting against him.

"I think you can never count Matt out," he said. "He's a warrior, and nothing really messes with his head. So being in GSP's hometown isn't really going to make a difference to Matt."

Scarola is opening a new jiu-jitsu academy next month, and plans to fight again soon.

Lutter makes weight
Travis Lutter is on a UFC card for the first time since his February 2007 loss to Anderson Silva. At the time, Lutter was mocked by fans for failing to make weigh in a title match. After a strong first round against Silva, he eventually tapped out to a triangle.

  Lutter told NBCSports.com yesterday that he was no longer doing a "monster cut" and would make a more manageable cut. He checked in right at the weight-limit of 185 for his middleweight fight with Rich Franklin, and received a mock cheer from the crowd.

Huerta to fight August 9^th
After fighting five times in 2007, Roger Huerta took some time off at the start of '08 to rest as well as film part of a major motion picture, Tekken.

But Huerta is itching to get back in the cage and will be back in the fold when UFC stages its first show in Minneapolis at UFC 87 on Aug. 9, Dana White told the UFC Fight Club prior to today's weigh-ins.

His opponent has not yet been announced, but Kenny Florian has been rumored.

Official weigh-in results
Jonathan Goulet (169.5) vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka (170)
Cain Velasquez (235.5) vs. Brad Morris (225.5)
Sam Stout (155.5) vs. Rich Clementi (155)
Ed Herman (185.5) vs. Demian Maia (184.5)
Jason Day (183.5) vs. Alan Belcher (185)
Jason MacDonald (185) vs. Joe Doerksen (184.5)
Kalib Starnes (186) vs. Nate Quarry (185.5)
Mac Danzig (154.5) vs. Mark Bocek (154.5)
Michael Bisping (185.5) vs. Charles McCarthy (186)
Travis Lutter (185) vs. Rich Franklin (185.5)
Georges St. Pierre (169.5) vs. Matt Serra (169.5)

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