"They made it all about the chic" - Former UFC champion Matt Serra slams $30 million Lord of the Rings spinoff over choice of protagonist 

Matt Serra may have hung up his gloves in 2010 but the former UFC welterweight champ continues to remain in the public eye through his podcast.

On a recent episode of GEEKING OUT WITH MATT SERRA, he talked about his most awaited movies of 2025, with a $30 million spinoff of The Lord of the Rings catching his eye. He came down heavily on the movie for the choice of its protagonist.

Calling out the recent anime movie, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, for not meeting his expectations, the 50-year-old blamed the protagonist who "ruined" it for him.

While suggesting the movie portrayed Princess Hera's character as much bigger than J.R.R. Tolkien had written, he expressed his disappointment by saying:

"If I have to give it a one word...Booo...They had something with this animated movie, Lord of the Rings, that could have been something. There were so many cool things about it, the main protagonist ruined everything, Why! they could've made it about Helmer Hands, what the f*ck is his name...he was great."

Questioning the relevance of Princess Hera in the spinoff, Serra added:

"First of all if she did everything she did in the movie, why didn't they write it in the book? Because she's a chick?

Watch his thoughts below (5:05):

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohrrim was released in December 2024. It was made at a budget of $30 million and has grossed $19 million as of now. The film received mixed reviews and currently has a rating of 6.4 on IMDB.

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When Matt Serra quit cornering fighters after feeling "disrespected" by a former UFC champion

Matt Serra had a long and decorated career in the UFC. The former UFC welterweight champion-turned-coach famously defeated Georges St-Pierre in 2007 via first-round TKO to win the title from the Canadian. Serra hung up his gloves in 2010 and since his retirement has taken up coaching.

'The Terror' was left in shock and he felt "disrespected" when one of the students, former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, snubbed him from his corner for his title bout against Petr Yan at UFC 259.

Expressing his disappointment, Serra announced his exit from cornering fighters on an episode of UFC Unfiltered:

"Going forward, I think it’s better now to make an exit on a high note... I always loved cornering, but what’s going on for the next fight? Is it me and Eric Nicksick doing rock-paper-scissors to see who gets in the corner? I have a family I don’t need to take. I mean, I will always be in this kid’s corner – just not physically. It’s not by my choice but by the choices that were made here. So I’m just going to retire altogether from the whole cornering thing.”

Check out the video below: