UFC 111 Live Blog & Results: St. Pierre-Hardy, Mir-Carwin Collide

Bleacher Report is live and in living color at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

UFC 111 is finally upon us and all that is left to do is for the fighters to step inside the octagon and collide. We will be here all night keeping up-to-date on the latest and greatest from the cageside perspective.

6:45pm: Pat Miletich is warming up in the octagon with his fighter who weighed in heavier than he was supposed to, Rory Markam. Markam tipped the scales at 177 pounds and was fined $1000 dollars for his weighty offense. Nate Diaz didn't take kindly to Markam's miscue but the two agreed to fight regardless, and the fight will be a part of the free spike television broadcast.

7:15pm: Frankie Edgar had trouble getting down into press row before someone let the usher know that he had street cred. Apparently at least one person on staff with the Prudential Center doesnt realize Edgar is fighting B.J. Penn for the lightweight title in a few weeks.

7:45pm: Matt Riddle is winning the fight with Greg Soto via takedowns and "octagon control." The crowd grows a bit restless in spots as the action lulls but overall seem patient given its the first fight of the night.

The Prudential Center looks packed which is impressive for the first night of the evening.

7:52pm: Greg Soto blasts Matt Riddle with an illegal upkick that has Riddle seeing stars. Riddle tells the referee that he is unable to continue. Waiting for the offical results on this bizzare finish to the fight fight.

Matt Riddle defeats Grego Soto due to Disqualification at 1:30 of the third round.

7:58pm The crowd reacts with the customary boos. Up next: Jared Hamman vs. Rodney Wallace. Hamman says this will be a "smash mouth" fight. Stangers things have happened but don't expect this one to go to the judges scorcards.

8:06pm: Rodney "Sho Nuff The Master" Wallace is combining takedowns with chasing Mr. Hamman around the octagon, landing some stiff shots in the process. Hamman finally landed one of his own big shots and dropped "Sho Nuff" to the canvas. The round ends with Hamman delivering some effective ground and pound.

The crowd approves of the first round action as both guys seem to be doing their best to throw caution to the wind.

8:15pm: The action slowed in the second round with both fighters trading positions on the ground. Did Rodey Wallace almost win by triangle choke? Short lived attempt. Hamman finishes the ground with some more ground and pound. He seems to have taken all momentum in the fight as "Sho Nuff" seems to be running out of the gas.

8:22pm: Well strangers things did happen as a fight that had knockout of the night potential went the distance. The fight wasnt short on excitment though as both guys were looking to turn out the lights.

There third round saw fighters change positions multiple times, as if on cue. Hamman once again ends the fight with some effective ground and pound and likely secured an entertaining decision win by doing so.

Jared Hamman defeats Rodney Wallace. (29-28) on all three judges scorecards.

8:31pm: Tomaz Drwal is "feeling like a freak on a leash" as he chooses Korn for his out walk out song. Drwal will need to make sure Rousimar Palhares doesnt put a grappling leash around his neck as the polish striker will want to keep the fight upright as long as possible. Classic Stiker vs. Grappler match up on deck.

Well that was quick.

Rousimar Palhares by submission (heel hook) at 45 seconds of the first round.

It is safe to say that Tomasz Drwal wont be drinking a bud light any time soon. The Polish fighter slipped on the canvas making the takedown easy for "Toquinho" who went right into submission mode, locking in the heel hook very deep and not letting go.

Drwal was left confused and in excruciating pain. He almost resembled a fighter who had been knocked out and stunned. Big win for the strongest guy in the middleweight division and dissapointing loss for "Gorilla."

9:02pm: We are taking a break while we wait for the spike television fights to que up. We are listening to Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby and now a little Poker Face by Lady Gaga. One of the best things about a UFC show is feeling like your at a rocket concert.

-Passed by the man, the myth, the legend Mike Goldbberg during the break. He was chewing food and walking fast and furious.

The are now live up on Spike Television and getting ready for Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown. Can "Big Dog" lock in a guillotine or will "The Immortal" one be able to finish off his foe with a big T(KO) win.

Brown said prior to the fight, "I feel like Ricardo Almedia is by far my toughest fight of my career. He presents many challenges throughout all areas of the fight and I need to be well prepared for each one of them."

Ricardo Almedia wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:33 of Round two.

Sorry for the delay of real time results. The internet connection here in the Prudential Center isnt exactly lightening fast. As those following along on Spike Television saw, Almeida was able to use his strength and superior grappling to control Matt Brown the entire fight. 

"Big Dog" certainly looks to have a bright future ahead of him in the welterweight division and should  likely garner a top ten opponent in his next fight. Any suggestions for UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva?

Lets drop some quotes on you while we wait for Diaz vs. Markham to step into the cage.

Quick Quotes:

Matt Riddle (On the illegal kick)

"The doctor s talking to me. He asked me where I was ad I said "in the cage." At that point I thought the fight was over and when they went to restart the fight, my corner didnt want me to continue. I didnt really know what was going on after the kick."

Jared Hamman

"I didnt expect to get hit that many times. That's the first time for me going out of the second round. He's a great athlete. I knew he was going o take me down, but I'm very tough to keep down. I knew I'd be able to tire him out. That was my strategy - to get him tired."

Rousimar Palhares (on the submission)

"I didnt feel he was tapping. I thought he was trying to push me off. If I hurt him, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt him. I train leg locks a lot. I believe in them and I believe in God."

Nick Diaz is so west side. Stockton in the house. Does Diaz follow up with another submission on the Spike Television?

-A grown man in the audience just yelled out "give him a big blow Markman."

Well Diaz certainly knows how to make a debut. In his first fight at welterweight, Stockton's finest looked textbook in a big win over Markham. But, can Diaz make a real impact in the stacked welterweight division?

Nate Diaz wins by T(KO) at 2:47 of the first round.

-Did a little walk through to do some celeb spotting. Didnt see any hollywooders but did spot newly minted UFC Light Heavyweight star Jon Jones taking pictures with the crowd. Matt Hamill was sitting nearby, how weird/cool is that.

Caught Chuck Liddell texting on his phone cageside. The big question on everyone's minds is who will the Iceman fight next...will it be Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin, or someone else?

Spotted Thiago Alves and Mike Thomas Brown taking pictures together for the fans. Hopefully Alves will be back in action soon; as for Brown you can watch him in action when the WEC brings us their first PPV in company history at WEC 48, April 24.

-The pay per view is underway and kicking off tonight's card will be a lightweight scrap between Toronto Native Mark Boeck. Boeck has got his hands full in local favorite Jim Miller. For Miller, a win should finally propel him into the deeper waters of the shark infested 155 pound division.

Miller pulled out the first round with his late ralley/submission attempt, despite Bocek's wrestling advantage. The second round was all Bocek though; who would have thought that Miller would get completely outworked in the wrestling department.

Round three coming up.

Jim Miller was busier in the first half of the round in the striking department, landing a nice upercut in the process, but Bocek finished the round strong with his obvious strength advantage and wrestling.

Jim Miller wins (29-28) on all three judges scorecards in a fight that is surely to raise the ire of enough fans. Miller won "the moments" in the fight, but Bocek certainly took the fight when it comes to octagon control.

Bocek should not hold his head low in loss; as for Miller, the fight exposed that a good wrestler can take him down and put him on his back. Not good in a division that is filled with quality wrestlers in the upper echelon of the division.

More Quotes:

Ricardo Almeida

"The [weight] cut was hell. This is my home. No one is going o come in here and beat me. I wanted to bully him agaisnt the fence and take him down. I knew he was going to kick. We trained throwing the right hand there and I was able to get it."

Nate Diaz (On the weight cut)

"I was 175 lbs. this morning. I made the weight real easy.

I wanted to change things up and get back out there. I didnt care if I went up in weight. I just wanted another fight. I was the faster fighter. I'm just looking to get better. I'll fight anybody. I heard his corner yelling 'control the hands,' so I let go of him and threw punches."

-Ben "Killa B" Saunders steps into the octagon in a dream scenerio for American Top Team product. Dana White apparently told TMZ that with a win, Saunders will be granted a title shot agaisnt the winner of Georges. St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy later tonight.

Does everyone feel that Saunders would  deserve that shot, or is the Josh Koscheck-Paul Daley winner getting the shaft? As for Fitch, what does he get with the win?

Jon Fitch does what Jon Fitch does in the first round. Out grapple and grind on his opponent. Saunders is still in the fight, but he will have to keep things upright if he wants to have his shot.

-Not sure if fans watching on the PPV saw it, but after round one of Miller-Bocek, Brock Lesnar made his way into the Prudential Center. He is ready to face off with the winner of Mir-Carwin inside the octagon post fight. You have to love the hype and hysteria that is taking place in the heavyweight division right now.

Well fans certainly won't mistake Fitch vs. Saunders for a K-1 fight. And Fitch  wont apologize for that. The second best welterweight is dominating this fight with his smothering grappling, and even managed to mix in a smattering of stand up to start each exchange.

Fitch looks to be on his way to another one sided "yet booed by the fans" decision win.

Jon Fitch wins on all three judges scorecards (30-27) as the fans boo.  What is ext for the AKA product? The St. Pierre-Hardy winner? Or, will the reschedule the fight that was origionally supposed to take place tonight: Fitch vs. Alves.

Kurt Pellegrino wins via rear-naked choke in his home state

Kurt Pellegringo came to give his New Jeresy fans a fight they would not forget and no one will likely forget, including Pellegrino himself, the pesky performance of Fabricio Camoes who had "Batman" in several comprimising situations in round one, almost ending the fight with a standing naked choke.

Pellegrino weathered the early storm and pulls out the win by rear naked choke over Fabricio Camoes at 4:20 minutes of the second round.

A big win for Pellegringo, where does this put him in the lightweight division?

Carwin destroys Frank Mir in interim heavyweight title bout.

Shane Carwin looked as impressive as ever, has he landed some strong left-handed uppercuts against Frank Mir. Carwin was in control for a majority of the round and as he got him against the cage for the second time, he dropped Mir which lead to his eventual demise.

After the fight, Carwin squared up with current champion Brock Lesnar in a fight that was expected to happen months ago. Lesnar's intestinal surgery is what caused this fight to be an interim title bout, but the titles will be unified later this summer in a great match-up of two extremely big and talented fighters in the heavyweight division.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy for Welterweight Title

Dan Hardy came out with a smile on his face and Georges St. Pierre looks all business. I'm not sure that I've ever seen St. Pierre in better shape, and as the physical specimen that he has been since his arrival into the UFC that is staggering to even say.

St. Pierre started off with a strong double leg takedown. He moved to side control less than two minutes into the fight and then took Hardy's back. Hardy nearly escaped from St. Pierre's control but was taken down with an explosive double leg once again.

St. Pierre mounted Hardy and took Hardy's back for the second time in the round. St. Pierre had a vicious armbar attempt that somehow did not force Hardy to tap. I would not have been surprised if St. Pierre snapped Hardy's arm in that situation.

The title holder continued to control Hardy throughout the round, attempting a few submissions after numerous relentless takedowns. then took Hardy down, making it seem easy every time he attempts a takedown. 

There has been two incidents now where St. Pierre could have broken Hardy's arm. He had a very good kimura locked on that he seemingly did not want to finish and injure Hardy. 

St. Pierre left with a unanimous decision and he was able to hold on to his welterweight title. This was another successful and dominant title defense for St. Pierre, who is one of the best welterweight fighters to ever live.