UFC 83

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.

The card was headlined by UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra and UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre in a match to unify the championship. It was a rematch 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."

This event was the company's first event in Canada. Several prominent Canadian MMA fighters competed on this card, including Kalib Starnes, Mark Bocek, Jason MacDonald, Sam Stout, and Jonathan Goulet. Patrick Côté was originally scheduled to fight on this card as well against Alan Belcher, but was forced to pull out after sustaining a non-fighting related injury and replaced by Jason Day.

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 who packed the Bell Centre officially broke the former attendance record of 19,049 set at UFC 68 in Columbus, Ohio back in March 2007.

This event marked the promotional debut of future UFC Heavyweight Champion, Cain Velasquez.

Results

|Welterweight |Georges St-Pierre (ic) |def. |Matt Serra (c) |TKO (knees) |2 |4:45 |For the UFC Welterweight Championship |Middleweight |Rich Franklin |def. |Travis Lutter |TKO (punches) |2 |3:01 | |Middleweight |Nate Quarry |def. |Kalib Starnes |Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–24) |3 |5:00 | |Middleweight |Michael Bisping |def. |Charles McCarthy |TKO (injury) |1 |5:00 | |Lightweight |Mac Danzig |def. |Mark Bocek |Submission (rear-naked choke) |3 |3:48 | |Middleweight |Jason Day |def. |Alan Belcher |TKO (punches) |1 |3:58 | |Middleweight |Jason MacDonald |def. |Joe Doerksen |TKO (elbows) |2 |0:56 | |Middleweight |Demian Maia |def. |Ed Herman |Technical Submission (mounted triangle choke) |2 |2:27 | |Lightweight |Rich Clementi |def. |Sam Stout |Decision (split) (29–27, 28–29, 29–28) |3 |5:00 | |Heavyweight |Cain Velasquez |def. |Brad Morris |TKO (punches) |1 |2:10 | |Welterweight |Jonathan Goulet |def. |Kuniyoshi Hironaka |TKO (punches) |2 |2:07 |

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $75,000 bonuses.{{cite web |access-date = 2008-04-30 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120718062625/http://mmajunkie.com/news/4178/goulet-hironaka-macdonald-and-maia-earn-ufc-83-bonuses.mma |archive-date = July 18, 2012

• Fight of the Night: Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
• Knockout of the Night: Jason MacDonald
• Submission of the Night: Demian Maia

Fighter payouts

The Quebec Boxing Council refused to disclose payout details, as it is common for non-US held pay-per-view events.

References

References

1. Stupp, Dann. (January 13, 2008). "MMA Executive: Jason MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen at UFC 84". MMAJunkie.com.
2. Stupp, Dann. (January 29, 2008). "Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin, Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo Added to UFC Fight Night 13". MMAJunkie.com.
3. (17 April 2008). "Georges St. Pierre looks for redemption (Article tungkol kay idol!)".
4. "Georges St. Pierre Interview - MMA News".
5. (17 April 2008). "St. Pierre looking for revenge at UFC 83".
6. Stupp, Dann. (January 4, 2008). "Matt Serra Is Willing to Fight Georges St-Pierre in Canada". MMAJunkie.com.
7. (February 11, 2008). "Report: Jason Day in, Patrick Cote out at UFC 83". mmajunkie.com.
8. Stupp, Dan. (February 8, 2008). "UFC 83 Creates Record Sellout". MMAjunkie.com.
9. (28 April 2008). "UFC 83 payouts and salaries for 'Serra vs. St. Pierre 2'".