''UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event held by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC) on March 27, 2010 at the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Background

The ''

UFC Primetime ''UFC Primetime'' is a television series that aired on FX in the United States. The show chronicles the training regimens of two UFC fighters prior to their next upcoming main event bout. Premise Each season consists of three episodes with 30-m ...

'' series returned to build up the

UFC Welterweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

fight between GSP and

Dan Hardy Daniel Mark Hardyhttp://boxing.nv.gov/2012%20Results%20Web/05-26-12%20MMA.pdf (born 17 May 1982) is an English former mixed martial artist who fought in the welterweight division. During his professional MMA career, which began in 2004, Hardy ...

. It was the first time a British fighter had ever fought for a UFC title.

Martin Kampmann Martin Kampmann Frederiksen (born April 17, 1982) is a retired Danish professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former Cage Warriors World Middleweight Champion. Background Originally from Aar ...

was originally set to fight Ben Saunders, but Kampmann was replaced by

Jake Ellenberger Jacob Steven "Jake" Ellenberger (born March 28, 1985) is an American retired mixed martial artist and former United States Marine who was known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor from 2005–2018, ...

, due to a deep cut suffered in training by Kampmann.

Ricardo Funch Ricardo Funch (born August 14, 1980) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Funch has formerly competed for the UFC. Mixed martial arts career Ult ...

was forced to pull out of a fight against

Matthew Riddle Matthew Fredrick Riddle (born January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is currently inactive due t ...

for an undisclosed reason. UFC newcomer

Greg Soto Gregory Francis Soto (born June 3, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist. Soto is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Mixed martial arts record , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 , George Sullivan , KO (punch) , CFFC 14 , , align=center, 1 ...

was his replacement.

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

broadcast three preliminary bouts one hour before the live PPV broadcast began. This event was seen in movie theaters throughout the United States via

National CineMedia National CineMedia (NCM) is an American cinema advertising company. NCM displays ads to U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and through mobile technology. NCM presents cinema advertising across a digital in-theater network, consisting of the ...

's Fathom event distribution service. Also, it was shown at the

Cineplex Odeon Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian movie theatre and family entertainment centre chain headquartered in Toronto. The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included t ...

chain in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. On March 10, 2010 it was announced that the event was officially sold out. There was also some controversy that the UFC

airbrushed An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint but also ink and dye, and foundation. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of airbrush. History ...

Hardy's tattoo which reads "

om mani padme hum ' ( sa, ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, ) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It first appeared in the Mahayana ''Kāraṇ ...

" for their promotional poster. UFC president Dana White later admitted that this was done so as to not provoke the Chinese government. On March 25, 2010 Thiago Alves was removed from the card due to brain irregularity from a pre-fight CAT scan. After learning of the removal, Ben Saunders, who was scheduled to fight Jake Ellenberger, requested Alves's opponent,

Jon Fitch Jonathan Parker Fitch (born February 24, 1978) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He has competed in the Welterweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and most recently for ...

, and subsequently replaced Ellenberger on the card. As a result, Ellenberger did not compete but received his "show" and "win" money to make up for the last minute switch. The fight between

Kurt Pellegrino Kurt Joseph Pellegrino (born May 7, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the lightweight division for Bellator Fighting Championships and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life Pellegrino wrestled for Point Pleas ...

and

Fabricio Camoes Fabricio () is a Spanish male given name. Fabrício () is the Portuguese equivalent. Among those with the first name are: *Fabricio Coloccini, Argentine footballer *Fabrício Guerreiro (born 1990), Brazilian mixed martial artist *Fabricio Oberto, A ...

was moved up to the main card as a result of the cancellation. On March 26 at the official weigh-ins,

Rory Markham Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", ...

weighed 177 lb. He forfeited $1,000 (12.5% of his purse) to

Nate Diaz Nathan Donald Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist who is currently a free agent. Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for over 15 year ...

Results

Bonus awards

Fighters were awarded $65,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman *Knockout of the Night: Shane Carwin *Submission of the Night: Kurt Pellegrino

Television rating

The preliminary bouts shown on

at 9 pm EST drew a series-low of 1.2 million viewers, and coincided with the

Elite Eight In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...

round of the NCAA basketball tournament.

Background

Results

Bonus awards

Television rating

References

See also