UFC 83
| Company type | Mixed martial arts event |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed martial arts |
| Founded | April 19, 2008 |
| Headquarters | Montreal , Canada |
Area served | Canada |
| Products | Mixed martial arts fights |
UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2 was a mixed martial arts event organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 19, 2008, hosted at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Background
Initially planned as UFC 84, this event was renumbered to UFC 83 following the cancellation of a scheduled March 8, 2008 show in England.
The main attraction featured a welterweight title unification clash between reigning UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra and Interim Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. This bout served as a rematch to their encounter at UFC 69, where Serra emerged victorious. The tension between the fighters escalated as St-Pierre revealed personal hardships, including family losses, that affected his previous performance and admitted underestimating Serra, believing he could defeat him without difficulty. In response, Serra made dismissive comments, which heightened media interest.
This event marked the UFC's debut in Canada and showcased notable Canadian athletes such as Kalib Starnes, Mark Bocek, Jason MacDonald, Sam Stout, and Jonathan Goulet. Due to injury, Patrick Côté withdrew and was substituted by Jason Day.
At the time, UFC 83 established two records: it achieved the fastest sellout with the majority of tickets purchased within 24 hours by Fight Club members and the remaining tickets sold publicly within one minute; additionally, it set a new attendance record with 21,390 fans present at the Bell Centre, exceeding the former record of 19,049 set at UFC 68.
The event also introduced future UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez to the promotion.
Bonus awards
Competitors were awarded $75,000 bonuses for outstanding performances:
- Fight of the Night: Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
- Knockout of the Night: Jason MacDonald
- Submission of the Night: Demian Maia
Fighter payouts
As is customary for non-US pay-per-view events, payout information was not released by the Quebec Boxing Council.