GSP vs. Hardy Made Official - UFC 111

[xtremebadass]

Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy official for UFC 111 on March 27 in New Jersey
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Dec 11, 2009 at 2:25 pm ET

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – British slugger Dan Hardy (23-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC) knew he earned a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (19-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) by defeating Mike Swick at November's UFC 105 event.

Now he knows the date.

At today's UFC Fight Club Q&A session in Memphis, Tenn., UFC broadcaster Mike Goldberg said he had confirmed with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva that St-Pierre and Hardy will meet at an as-yet-unannounced event on March 27 in Newark, N.J.

The event is expected to be dubbed UFC 111 and take place at the Prudential Center.

Goldberg shared the news prior to Hardy taking the stage to field questions from UFC Fight Club members.

St-Pierre carries a six-fight winning streak into the contest. By March, the Canadian will have been on the shelf for eight months while recovering from a groin injury suffered in a July contest with Thiago Alves.

St-Pierre recently appeared in the U.K. at a UFC 105 Fight Club Q&A session and proclaimed himself 100 percent fit.

Meanwhile, Hardy has won seven-straight contests overall. That streak includes a perfect 4-0 mark in the UFC. The British slugger defeated Mike Swick earlier this month at UFC 105 to earn his way into the welterweight title match.

Josh Koscheck, who defeated Anthony Johnson in impressive fashion at this past week's UFC 106 event, has openly questioned why Hardy was selected as St-Pierre's next opponent. White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after the event that while Koscheck's performance put him "in the mix," Hardy was indeed the next title challenger.

Although the UFC was once a frequent guest in New Jersey and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City earlier this decade, only one event has been held in the Garden State in the past four years: UFC 78. The event, headlined by Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping, drew 14,071 attendees for a solid $2.1 million gate at Newark's Prudential Center.

No other fighters or matchups have been determined for the potential UFC 111 event, though the organization has a handful of fighters from New Jersey, including Frankie Edgar, Kurt Pellegrino, Dan Miller and Jim Miller.

GOD DAMNIT

I HATE DAN HARDY

 

[Wordlife]

YES YES YES!!!!

I hate Hardy too, I've been waiting for this fight for SO LONG! GSP will easily win this

 

[xtremebadass]

I want GSP to smack the shit out of him so Koscheck can finally get the shot he deserves.

However if Hardy pulls the upset on GSP, that would definitely make Koscheck No. 1 Contender. Hardy vs. Koscheck is already quite a rivalry. GSP would get fucked out of that so fast lol. He won't be getting no Machida/Shogun immediate rematch lol.

 

[phantomgerald]

GSP is way way better than Dan Hardy. There's really nobody in the Welterweight division who can scare GSP. Maybe Matt Hughes again or Rich Franklin again or Tito. Definately one of the old guys. Koscheck, Anthony Johnson and Dan Hardy are not at that level of the older guys yet.

 

[Quintastic One]

Dan Hardy is going to get raped by GSP. Same thing as the next challengers lined up for Anderson Silva and BJ Penn. It's pretty obvious those 3 cannot and will not be beat.

Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions are not only my preference, but also a helluva lot more competitive in terms of potential title challengers you can line up.

 

[xtremebadass]

LHW and HW Divisions are the most entertaining, most unpredictable, and most interesting. That's just how it goes. GSP, BJ, and Anderson Silva are all at the top because they are just the best. Nobody remotely comes close to them as a fighter in general. Every challenger who someone thinks is good enough is proven wrong time and time again...Florian, Alves, Sanchez...however GSP>Penn lol, had to slip that in there.

 

[Colin Gimp]

koscheck vs hardy is what i wanna see.

 

[Rated RJC]

Uhh, I do dislike Hardy and see him getting smacked by GSP. No real fight imo, it's kind of good to have fights like this because if GSP wins it's expected and I'm happy to see it but if Hardy wins he shocks the world. This won't sell though, we need some real challengers for the Big 3 in the UFC.