The decisive win by Georges St. Pierre was not the only highlight of the evening, but there’s something to be said for a fight that creates that amount of hype. Still, as a result of St. Pierre’s win (which I’m as happy about as anybody), we are almost garunteed a fight between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra and, in the vent that Serra wins, a rubber match between the New Yorker and the Canadian.

As far as Joe Silva’s options for a title contender, the welterweight division is not seriously promising, but I think that we are more or less garunteed a fight between St. Pierre and Jon Fitch. While this fight isn’t particularly interesting to me, I do think that it will give Fitch some credibility to see him step in with a big name like Georges. Those are my simplified thoughts on the future of the welterweight division with its new, expected champion.

Mac Danzig is quickly establishing himself as a force in the division. He was one of the rare anomalies on TUF not to win because of a decision or freak injury (I throw that last part in to take out Nate Diaz, because I have a hard time calling that win legitimate). I like Danzig, and I’ve followed his small circuit career a little bit (mostly because I wanted to scout him when he was signed by Pride).

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The crowd in Montreal had just welcomed another Canadian in the cage and was eagerly awaiting a showdown. Instead, three rounds of potential fighting turned into a 15 minute stall tactic riddled with boos from the crowd and taunts in the cage. British Columbian fighter Kalib Starnes tried to do everything but engage with his opponent, Nate Quarry, during their UFC 83 bout. In the final minute of the fight, an extremely frustrated Quarry began taunting Starnes with his rendition of the running man and started blindly punching the air as he covered his face as if he were Screech from Saved by the Bell. As the final bell did ring, name calling between fighters and their opposing corners rounded out what was to be an unforgettable night for many at the Bell Center in Montreal. So what went wrong?

Let’s take a look at some of the possible scenarios.

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Being the what the rest of the world would call a dumb American, I assumed that Montreal was much farther away from the United States than what Google maps just showed me. The predominently French Canadian city, on the eastern side of Canada, is less than 50 miles away from the upstate New York and Vermont borders. So while the Montreal crowd will obviously be predominantly Canadian, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a few outspoken Serra supporters mixed in the crowd and ready to support their fighter…and fight against the hometown crowd. It’s New York versus Montreal at UFC 83.

Canada is known for beer, cold weather, and hockey - and the fights that come with the sport. And for the first time, the UFC will be bringing the fighting to Canada in another sport which is quickly gaining mainstream attention by the Canadian press these days. It’s a move that many hardcore fans have been talking about ever since Georges St. Pierre made Matt Hughes verbally tap out during UFC 79. It’s also a move that will make the UFC a lot of money through the nearly-instant gate sellout along with the potential Pay-Per-View numbers which may rival some of the UFC’s other big PPV events if both Canadians and U.S. fans decide to watch the event live on television. And after Matt Serra decided to call out St. Pierre as “Frenchy” last May, you just might see the most eclectic UFC crowd on television ever.

But there’s more than hometown crowds, beer, and PPV numbers when it comes down to fighting. Let’s take a look at the televised matchups, including two of the five middleweight bouts, for UFC 83. (Note to UFC: Just hold a middleweight tournament and left the winner fight Anderson Silva.)

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Got a few extra bucks to spend this weekend? Bodog and BetUS are both showing odds for UFC 83 that just might make you want to drop a few bucks on Matt Serra, Travis Lutter, or even Mark Bocek.

After watching Matt Serra dismantle Georges St. Pierre during UFC 69 last April along with St. Pierre’s domination of Matt Hughes, this fight could easily go either way. Bodog is showing lines of -500 for St. Pierre and +300 for Serra while BetUS has Serra up at +350. You could make $350 for every $100 if Serra pulls off another “upset.” It’s only an upset if Serra wins because it’s one of those fights where many are thinking St. Pierre will come away with the victory, but there’s some uncertainty. Remember the last time this happened? It was Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson and although a great fight ensued, the upset just wasn’t there. Things may change this time around if Serra doesn’t let the Montreal crowd get to him.

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…and why everyone’s so eager for it to get here.

When the UFC arrives in Canada, they will hear a chant that has become so popular that even some of the New Yorkers there may join in. And while the yell of “G-S-P, G-S-P” (even more familiar to me than “U-S-A”) may be punctuated by the occasional “eh” it won’t diminish the fact that the man they are screaming for is an icon, not just for Canadian MMA, but for everyone.

There’s something about Georges St. Pierre that people love. Maybe it’s his struggle to speak coherent English, maybe it’s getting to watch him develop on the world stage, maybe it’s just that great combination of exciting performances in the cage and amiable modesty outside of it. Frankly, even though I don’t know why, I like the guy.

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UFC 83 will be one spectacular event as Matt “The Terror” Serra will look to prove all of the doubters wrong and have his hand raised yet again. Inside the cage spectators and fans will see the same grueling battles that are expected, however on the color commentary will sound a bit different. Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian will step in for the always colorful Joe Rogan. On the same night, Joe Rogan will be hosting his own live comedy show on Showtime and the conflicting schedules will allow Florian to step in and showcase his play by play skills.

Ken-Flo told MMAWeekly:

“I’ll be commentating actually, start to finish, my first, my debut as the co-commentator,” said Florian on MMAWeekly Radio Friday night. “I’ll be there with Goldie. Goldie will be leading the way; he’ll be the quarterback. I’ll be the kind of back up.”

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s not only going to be a tremendous night of fights, but it will be a great experience for me to get in there and commentate and watch these amazing fights real up close and do what I normally do on the couch, and yell and scream, except do it on TV,” Florian stated.

This is the ideal time for Florian to showcase his play by play talent. It is anticipated that this event will have the biggest live audience ever to attend a UFC event. Combine that with the amount of PPV buys and Florian will get an insane amount of exposure. The fight card isn’t too bad either. It will feature the return of Matt Serra as he tries to prove that he isn’t a one hit wonder, Rich Franklin will be trying to stay on his feet and KO Travis Lutter, and Michael Bisping will make his 185 debut.

Things are looking up for Kenny Florian. He is on a four fight win streak in the cage in which he has finished every single opponent before the final bell. His most recent win was against rising star Joe Lauzon in April 2^nd’s UFC Fight Night. Florian is on his way to the top and could be 1 fight out of a title shot. Florian has great jui jitsu and has deadly elbows that could propel him straight to the top of the 155 division.

There was a very positive response to my pieces on Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, so I figured that leading up to the fight between Serra and St. Pierre I would run a piece covering the greatest welterweight in the world and the greatest underdog the sport has ever seen. I figured that, sense Serra needs a bit more of an explanation, I’d start with him.

Matt Serra is not the most dominant fighter in the world, he is not the most dangerous fighter in the world, and he is not the most feared fighter in the world. If anything, he is the cinderella of MMA, and so many fans seem to be watching the clock like school kids at the brink of summer, waiting for it to strike midnight.

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I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about the 185 pound division recently, and when I wrote a handful of pieces criticizing the UFC heavyweight division, I got a lot of interesting responses from people telling me that they thought the middleweight division was in similarly bad shape. Now, while I don’t entirely agree with this, I think that there’s something to be said for the status of a division that has seen as dominant a champion as the 185 pounders have in Anderson Silva.The first thing that I think we all have to acknowledge is that there isn’t a contender in the division right now that anyone thinks can beat Anderson Silva. People have suggested Yushin Okami and I’ve suggested either Martin Kampmann (who I believe is next in line for a title shot) and Drew McFedries. But the more Anderson proves himself by dominating guys that we think are going to give him a tough fight, we really have to look for a contender that is going to give the Brazilian wrecking ball a serious fight. There may be some hope in that Dan Henderson lasted as long as anyone, but we also have to recognize that Dan Henderson did not last as long as many fans (myself included) thought he should, and he stands as proof that we, yet again, underestimated the UFC middleweight champion.

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