Fans flooded the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday for the UFC’s first title fights of 2010 at UFC 111.

The main event between welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger Dan Hardy, built up by the return of UFC Primetime on Spike TV, was not as competitive as expected. St. Pierre performed to his strength, taking Hardy down with ease every chance he got, improving his position and landing ground-and-pound.

St. Pierre vs. Hardy

St. Pierre took away Hardy’s greatest chance of winning the fight by eliminating the stand up, and his gameplan worked effectively as Hardy was unable to do much damage over the five-round contest. St. Pierre was successful on all nine of his takedown attempts and attempted eight submissions throughout the fight according to compustrike.com, including a deep armbar and then a kimura, which were both close to ending the fight.

St. Pierre outstriked Hardy 130-22 and executed his gameplan to perfection. He retained his title via a unanimous decision victory: 50-45, 50-44, 50-43.

In the co-main event, undefeated heavyweight phenom Shane Carwin continued his domination of the UFC heavyweight roster by running through Frank Mir and earning the interim heavyweight championship. Carwin shot in on Mir and drove him to the fence, off of the opening exchange, where he landed strong knees and punches.

After a separation by the referee, Carwin pinned Mir back to the fence, where he landed a flurry of hooks and uppercuts, which dropped Mir. Carwin took his back and pounded him unconscious, ending the fight at 3:48 into the first round. Carwin outstriked Mir 68-3 in the contest and won “Knockout of the Night” honors.

New Jersey native and crowd favorite Kurt Pellegrino earned “Submission of the Night” honors by beating second-degree BJJ black belt Fabricio Camoes at his own game. Pellegrino defended the takedown successfully and outstriked the Brazilian 59-15 in the bout. He locked in a rear-naked choke and got the tap from Camoes at 4:20 into the second round.

Carwin vs. Mir

After a failed CT scan due to a brain irregularity, just 2 days prior to the event, Thiago Alves was forced out of a scheduled rematch with Jon Fitch. Ben Saunder’s match with Jake Ellenberger was scratched from the card and Saunders was rescheduled to face Fitch in the second main card fight.

Fitch wanted nothing to do with the standup of the muay thai expert, and rather worked to take down Saunders from the clinch through most of the fight. Fitch took Saunders down several times, controlled the fight, and landed some good ground-and-pound in the final two minutes. After three rounds, all three judges scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Fitch.

In the first match of the evening New Jersey native Jim Miller faced Mark Bocek in a back and forth battle. Bocek continuously went for the takedown and succeeded in getting the fight to the ground four times. However, Miller landed effective strikes from his back and attempted submissions, including a guillotine and then a kimura, which almost ended the fight in the first round.

Bocek controlled the second round and even mounted Miller. The fighters exchanged on the feet for most of the third round and Miller ended the fight by taking Bocek’s back. Miller outstriked Bocek 53-36 and won a close unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the contest 29-28.

Miller vs. Bocek

A light-heavyweight bout between Rodney Wallace and Jared Hamman earned “Fight of the Night” honors. Hamman won the fight via unanimous decision and it was featured last on the pay-per-view broadcast. All fighters earning bonus honors received $65,000.

Rousimar Palhares received a disciplinary suspension of 90 days after winning a preliminary card fight against Tomasz Drwal. Palhares ended the fight 0:45 into the first round via heel hook, but failed to release the submission until being forced off of Drwal by the referee.

UFC 111 marked the first time that a UFC pay-per-view was aired live in HD on the big screen. The event was available in 300 select movie theaters across the country. Two preliminary fights were broadcast live on Spike and drew 1.2 million viewers, according to MMApayout.com

Overall, the Prudential Center had an attendance of 17,000 and a total gate of $4 million. The next UFC event, Ultimate Fight Night 21, will feature a main event between Kenny Florian and UFC newcomer Takanori Gomi. The event will be held at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., and will air live on Spike Wednesday, March 31, at 8 p.m. EST. The event will be followed by the premier of the eleventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike at 10 p.m. EST.

UFC 111 – Spike TV Prelim Fights

UFC 111 PPV Pt. 1

UFC 111 PPV Pt. 2

The Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. will be the home of UFC Fight Night 21, tonight, as Peruvian-American lightweight Kenny Florian (12-4) and Japanese lightweight Takanori Gomi (31-5) headline the event.

Hailing from Brookline, Mass., Florian has a blackbelt in BJJ and Genjitsu, and also specializes in Muay Thai, and is ranked by multiple MMA publications as the third best lightweight in the world. Tonight’s fight could set the foundation for his status in mixed martial arts with another win.

“Ken-Flo” split his last two fights, both occurring in 2009. In August of 2008, he faced off against B.J. Penn for the Lightweight Championship at UFC 101 in Philadelphia, Penn.

This wasn’t his first title shot, as he formerly had an opportunity in 2006 at UFC 64 in Las Vegas, Nev. against former champion Shawn Sherk.

Florian vs. Penn, Image Courtesy of MMA Weekly

Penn, who was labeled the most dominant fighter in mixed martial arts, was pushed to four rounds by Florian, but was still able to hang on and force Ken-Flo into submission with a rear naked chokehold at 3:54 in the fourth round.

So, Florian got back on his feet and prepared for his next fight against American Clay Guida at UFC 107, where Penn headlined that event, defeating Diego Sanchez to once again retain his title.

Memphis, Tenn. was the home of this event, and Florian didn’t take much time to prove the critics wrong. This time around, it was Florian who won the bout with a rear naked chokehold at 2:19 in the second round.

Florian, who owns and fights out of his own gym (Florian Martial Arts Center), with his brother Keith, will headline tonight’s event, which also includes Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Silver, Roy Nelson vs. Stefan Struve, and Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera.

While Gomi has been criticized for his career’s decline over the last few years, Florian has said that he is not a believer in Gomi’s lack of talent at this stage in his career, according to MMA Weekly. The big concern for Gomi will most likely be falling to submission, as he has lost three of his five bouts this way. Florian can back that up, as he has made eight of his professional opponents submit.

UFC Fight Night 21’s doors open at 4:00 p.m. eastern time, and the first bout begins at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. It will air tonight on Spike TV at 8:00 p.m. eastern time.

He may be known best for hosting the show that everyone loves to cringe at, Fear Factor. Or maybe its his role as the pseudo-conspiracy-theorist and electrician-handyman Joe Girrelli on the 1990’s sitcom NewsRadio? It couldn’t be his questionable follow-up performance as one of two replacements for the hilarious Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel on the final season of The Man Show… He’s an actor, a game show host and a comedian.

But Joe Rogan is also a color commentator for Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is, of course, where we know him from, today.

Throughout his career, Rogan has always had a little fight in him. As a stand-up comedian, he feuded with multiple popular comedians of the 2000’s, including Carlos Mencia and Dane Cook. These criticisms cost him some shows and participationin the Comedy Store agency in Los Angeles, Cal. However, it doesn’t stop there.

It’s an important issue in this growing sport… How can an actor and a game show host and a comedian turn around 180-degrees and end up involved with mixed martial arts? Some people ask for credibility. Rogan has it.

His list of potential credits begins as a teenager, where he began developing skills in Tae Kwon Do. In the state of Massachusetts, he was named the Full Tae Kwon Do Champion four consecutive times.

By age 19, Rogan won the United States Open Tae Kwon Do Championship. He also went on to defeat middle and heavyweight title holders as the lightweight champion, which resulted in him being awarded the Grand Championship.

He is currently working towards a black belt in BJJ, and is training with Eddie Bravo. Convinced yet?

Rogan believes himself to be the total package as far as self-defense goes – both physically and verbally. From an interview done in 2008 with San Francisco Stand Up, Rogan explains his thoughts on comedy and fighting.

“Well I think it all comes from the same place. The defense mechanism is also wanting to get people to like you. You know, that insecurity- that same insecurity is what leads people to martial arts, because you don’t want to be at the mercy of an attacker. You don’t want to worry about somebody physically dominating you. So I think it’s very similar in the motivation to get involved in it in the first place. What real martial arts is about, is not really about fighting- it’s more about developing your human potential. Martial arts really applies to comedy in that way. In comedy, the real deep stuff, when someone is really searching their own mind, their own soul, their own mortality, their own view of the world, they’re not just saying something to try to get some heehees and hahas out of a group of strangers. They’re digging deep and creating some art out of their own introspective thought.”

Rogan began his commentary career in 2002 with Pay Per View venues and Spike TV coverage of the UFC, and still works in the field today, even hosting the syndicated show “UFC Wired.” It most notably shows that well-roundedness and outspokenness can get you places in the entertainment industry.

In November, 1993 the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, hosted UFC 1: The Beginning. The Arena, capable of seating 17,000, only sold 2,800 seats for the event which had a dismal 86,000 PPV purchases.

Despite poor sales and attendance, the controversial event had lucrative potential; a second tournament was scheduled to air in March, 1994.

UFC 2: No Way Out took place at the Mammoth Gardens in Denver. The Gardens with a capacity of 11,000, only sold 2,000 tickets, but PPV purchases skyrocketed to 300,000.

It was quickly picked up by major PPV distributors like Viewers Choice and TCI Cable.

UFCs 3, 4, and 5 were all mini PPV hits, and really brought the organization and sport of MMA into the spotlight. However, not all the attention it gained was posotive.

After a brief Campaign held by senator John McCain asking governors to put a stop to no-holds-barred fighting, the UFC was banned in 36 states.

They were dropped by major cable and PPV providers, and forced to hold events in states like Wyoming and Iowa, where there was very little public appeal for the sport.

However, after negotiations with state athletic commissions, the UFC revamped their product; adding rules, weight classes, and safety measures.

In 2000 the dust cleared and the controversy was mostly forgotten. Most state athletic commissions granted the UFC sanctioning and John McCain was even quoted as saying “The sport has grown up. The rules have been adopted to give its athletes better protections and to ensure fairer competition.”

Casino Moguls Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta along with boxing promoter Dana White, purchased the UFC in 2001 for $2 million, and created Zuffa, LLC as the parent company, making White the president. Shortly thereafter, the UFC returned to PPV television, just in time for UFC 33.

UFC 33, took place in September, 2001 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Zuffa had hardly capitalized on their purchase with a disappointing $816,660 gate revenue and 75,000 PPV buys; 11,000 less than UFC 1.

However, over the next few years, with the guidance of White and corporate muscle of Zuffa, PPV numbers grew and the UFC gradually brought once more, the sport of MMA into the spotlight.

In 2005 Zuffa struck a deal with Spike TV to air The Ultimate Fighter series. The show was an instant success, and Spike agreed to pick up the show. The series, which will begin it’s tenth season in September, proved to be a huge promotional success.

PPV numbers exploded. 280,000 viewers purchased the UFC 52 PPV; the first UFC event to air after season one of the contender. The event was a far cry from the PPV disaster of UFC 33.

In 2006, only a year later, the UFC set the all time PPV annual revenue record, generating over $222,766,000; Surpassing both boxing and WWE PPV revenue for that year.

Earlier this month, UFC 100 was held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. However, in sharp contrast to UFC 33 only 8 yeas ago, the event grossed $5,128,490 at the gate and set a record 1,500,000 PPV purchases.

Last year the UFC generated over $250 million, 90% of all MMA revenue. This year, that  statistic is expected to take a substantial jump with the release of their video game UFC 2009 Undisputed and record high PPV numbers.

In less than a decade, Dana White and Zuffa transformed the UFC from a struggling business, experiencing financial deficits of more than $35 million only a few years ago, into a billion dollar corporation; synonymous with the entire sport of MMA.