UFC 83
UFC 83: Serra vs St-Pierre 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event was held on April 19, 2008, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. UFC 83 was the UFC's first event in Canada. It was headlined by UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra and UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre in a match to unify the championship.
Background
The event on this date was originally scheduled to be called UFC 84, but following the cancellation of a tentatively scheduled March 8, 2008 event in England, the event's title was changed to UFC 83 instead.
Several prominent Canadian fighters were set to compete, including Kalib Starnes, Mark Bocek, Jason MacDonald, Sam Stout, Jason Day and Jonathan Goulet. Patrick Côté was scheduled to fight as well, but was forced to pull out after sustaining an injury in a slip-and-fall accident.
The main event featured a rematch between Matt Serra and Georges St-Pierre from their fight at UFC 69, which Serra had won. The two fighters exchanged harsh words through the media following that fight, which led to the circumstances that surrounded the rematch. St-Pierre cited personal issues for the loss. He said that his father was seriously ill, and that his 17 year old cousin had died in a car accident around the time of the first fight. St-Pierre then claimed that he only accepted the fight with Serra because he thought he could "easily beat this guy." Serra took exception to these comments and responded in a subsequent radio interview by calling St-Pierre a "Frenchy", telling him to "go drink some red wine and go watch a hockey game."
UFC records broken
At the time, UFC 83 officially broke two UFC records. The first record broken was the fastest sellout ever. The UFC sold most of the tickets to UFC Fight Club members in the first 24 hours of the fightclub presale. The rest of the tickets were sold within one minute of the public sale. The second record broken was the UFC attendance record. The 21,390 people that packed the Bell Centre officially broke the former attendance record of 19,049 set at UFC 68 in Columbus, Ohio back in March 2007.
Commentary team
* Mike Goldberg, play by play commentator
* Kenny Florian, color commentator
Results
Preliminary card
* Welterweight bout: Canada Jonathan Goulet vs. Japan Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Goulet defeats Hironaka by TKO at 2:07 of the 2nd round. Goulet and Hironaka hold the distinction of taking part in the first UFC match ever on Canadian soil. This bout aired last on the PPV broadcast following the Serra vs. St-Pierre fight.
* Heavyweight bout: Australia Brad Morris vs. United States Cain Velasquez
Velasquez defeats Morris by TKO at 2:10 of the 1st round.
* Lightweight bout: Canada Sam Stout vs. United States Rich Clementi
Clementi defeats Stout by split decision (Two judges scored it 29–27 29–28 for Clementi while one had it 29–28 for Stout).
* Middleweight bout: Canada Jason MacDonald def. Canada Joe Doerksen
MacDonald defeats Doerkson by TKO (strikes) at 0:56 of the 2nd round.
* Middleweight bout: Brazil Demian Maia def. United States Ed Herman
Maia defeats Herman by submission (triangle choke) at 2:27 of the 2nd round.
* Middleweight bout: Canada Jason Day def. United States Alan Belcher
Day defeats Belcher by TKO (punches) at 3:58 of the 1st round.
Main card
* Lightweight bout: Canada Mark Bocek vs. United States Mac Danzig
Danzig defeats Bocek by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:48 of the 3rd round.
* Middleweight bout: Canada Kalib Starnes vs. United States Nate Quarry
Quarry defeats Starnes by Unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, 30–24). The third score marks the second widest point margin in a three-round fight in UFC history, with the record belonging to a bout between Forrest Petz and Sammy Morgan, which was scored 30–23 Petz by one judge. This was due to the persistent backing off by Starnes, which caused significant boos by the crowd. Quarry stated afterwards that he was frustrated and mocked Starnes with a 'Running Man' gesture in the final round. Two days after the fight, Starnes was cut from the UFC. Starnes has subsequently complained that his contract with the UFC was oppressive and that he was not being properly compensated for his efforts.
* Middleweight bout: England Michael Bisping vs. United States Charles McCarthy
Bisping defeats McCarthy by TKO at the end of the 1st round.
* Middleweight bout: United States Rich Franklin vs. United States Travis Lutter
Franklin defeats Lutter by TKO (strikes) at 3:01 of the 2nd round.
* UFC Welterweight Championship unification bout: United States Matt Serra (c) vs. Canada Georges St-Pierre (ic)
St-Pierre defeats Serra by TKO (knees) at 4:45 of Round 2. St-Pierre became the undisputed UFC Welterweight Champion.
- Fight of the Night: Canada Jonathan Goulet vs. Japan Kuniyoshi Hironaka
- Submission of the Night: Brazil Demian Maia
- Knockout of the Night: Canada Jason MacDonald
