''UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2'' 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 ...

. The event was held on April 19, 2008, at the

Bell Centre Bell Centre (), formerly known as Molson Centre (), is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montr ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

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 ...

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 Matthew John Serra (born June 2, 1974) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the co-star of Dana White: Lookin' for a Fight and co-h ...

and UFC Interim Welterweight Champion

Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre (; born May 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-division champion in the Ult ...

in a match to unify the championship. It was a rematch from their fight at

UFC 69 ''UFC 69: Shootout'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, April 7, 2007, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. UFC 69 is most remembered for the main event, in which Matt Serra shocked the UFC W ...

, 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 Kalib Starnes (born January 6, 1975) is a Canadian mixed martial artist. Early life Starnes became involved in the martial arts at an early age and began teaching when he was a teenager. He started training in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the Gracie Aca ...

Mark Bocek Mark Andrew Bocek ( cs, Boček; born October 24, 1981) is a Canadian retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor for ten years from 2004 to 2014, Bocek has ...

Jason MacDonald Jason Anthony MacDonald (born June 3, 1975) is a Canadian former mixed martial artist. A professional from 1999 until 2013, he is perhaps best remembered for his two stints in the UFC, but also fought for King of the Cage, and the Maximum Fighti ...

Sam Stout Samuel James Stout (born April 23, 1984) is a retired Canadian professional mixed martial artist. A professional from 2003 until 2015, Stout is best known for his 20-fight stint with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), winning ''Fight of the ...

, and

Jonathan Goulet Jonathan Goulet (born July 13, 1979) is a retired French Canadian mixed martial artist. A professional from 2001 until 2010, Goulet fought in the UFC. He earned his nickname, "The Road Warrior," after taking a fight on very short notice, traveli ...

. Patrick Côté was originally scheduled to fight on this card as well against

Alan Belcher Alan Belcher (born April 24, 1984) is an American bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist. A professional from 2004 until 2015, he is perhaps best known for his 15-fight tenure with the UFC. Background Belcher was born in Jonesboro ...

, but was forced to pull out after sustaining a non-fighting related injury and replaced by

Jason Day Jason Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer, PGA Tour member and winner of the 2015 PGA Championship. He is a former world number one in the World Golf Ranking, having first achieved the ranking in September 2015. ...

. 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

officially broke the former attendance record of 19,049 set at

UFC 68 ''UFC 68: The Uprising'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 3, 2007, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Background ''UFC 68'' was the first UFC event held in the state of Ohio, and coincide ...

in Columbus, Ohio back in March 2007. This event marked the promotional debut of future UFC Heavyweight Champion,

Cain Velasquez Caín Ramirez Velasquez (born July 28, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist, currently appearing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, ...

Results

Bonus awards

At the end of this event, $75,000 was awarded to each of the fighters who received one of these three awards. *Fight of the Night:

vs.

Kuniyoshi Hironaka is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. He has formerly competed for the UFC, Shooto, DREAM, and Pancrase. Mixed martial arts career Early career Hironaka made his professional mixed martial arts debut in ...

*Knockout of the Night:

*Submission of the Night:

Demian Maia Demian Maia (born 6 November 1977) is a Brazilian professional submission grappler and mixed martial artist. He competed in both the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Maia is regarded as one ...

Fighter payouts

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

References

External links