D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
Welterweight champion and pound-for-pound luminary
Georges St. Pierre will defend his crown against
Dan Hardy in the
UFC 111 main event on March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. UFC officials on Saturday made the matchup official.
St. Pierre will ride a six-fight winning streak into his latest title defense. The 28-year-old French Canadian has only strengthened his case as one of the world’s premier fighters, with recent one-sided wins against reigning UFC lightweight champion
B.J. Penn and top welterweight contenders
Thiago Alves and
Jon Fitch. Victories against one-time UFC lightweight titleholder
Sean Sherk, former UFC welterweight champion
Matt Serra and future UFC hall of famer
Matt Hughes buoy his superb resume. St. Pierre has not competed since he dominated Alves at UFC 100 in July, handing the American Top Team ace his first defeat in more than three years.
Hardy, 27, secured his crack at St. Pierre’s belt with a unanimous decision against
Mike Swick at UFC 105 in November. His rise has been rapid since he joined the UFC in 2008. Based out of Team Rough House, Hardy sandwiched split decisions over
Akihiro Gono and
Marcus Davis around a brutal knockout of
Rory Markham. A potent stand-up fighter, he has delivered nearly half (11) of his 23 career victories by KO or TKO.
In the co-feature at UFC 111,
Frank Mir will square off with the unbeaten
Shane Carwin for the interim heavyweight crown.
Mir will carry plenty of momentum into the matchup. The 30-year-old former titleholder choked French striker
Cheick Kongo unconscious at UFC 107 last month and has posted four wins in his past five fights. Submission victories against current UFC heavyweight king
Brock Lesnar and former UFC heavyweight titleholder
Tim Sylvia anchor his resume.
At 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, the hulking Carwin has finished all 11 of his opponents inside one round, including former title contender
Gabriel Gonzaga. The 34-year-old Coloradan owns 22-, 29-, 31-, 44- and 49-second wins. Only one man has reached the second minute against him.
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