After the first episode of UFC Primetime drew a million viewers you knew that the Countdown show would have a good audience to help build the hype for UFC 111.

SBN coverage of UFC 111

Part 2 after the jump.

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 Here are some of the highlights from last night's episode:

- The opening scene is in Hooters with Dan Hardy eating chicken wings? Doesn't Dan know that diarrhea already derailed one fighter?

- You got to love how the narrator describes Hardy showing up for a two day Matt Serra jiu-jitsu photo-op as an "alliance". What is this, Survivor or a real life game of Risk? "The Ukraine is weak Hardy! WEAK!"

- The narrative that Primetime is selling, is that Hardy has the power and strength to knockout St. Pierre who may not be as well rounded in the striking department. It's interesting how Georges' early Octagon work as a stand-up fighter is being ignored. Then again, it is the same story we would be selling if we had to pimp this fight.

- Kenny Florian and Nate Marquardt arrive for their training cameos. Incidentally, this is a great avenue to introduce or reintroduce fans to certain fighters on the UFC's roster.

- Ariel Helwani will conquer the MMA-verse. He is everywhere now.

- When Dan Hardy talked about going to train with monks WKR expected Pai Mei to walk into the frame.

- "As far as saying I am not a martial artist. You don't know anything about me. Because he walks out to the Octagon in his pajamas he's a martial artist and am not?" ~ Dan Hardy

- "My mentality is like a samurai. They used to everyday[sic] work on their technique to make themselves almost perfect. Because perfect is impossible to get to but every day you get closer to the perfection and that is what I want to do." ~ Georges St. Pierre.

- Patrick Cote makes an appearance! Who says that Québécois don't stick together?

- "Maybe GSP should speak for himself and not have his f***ing striking coach call me out!" ~ Dan Hardy

- Is there anything better than a high quality training montage with excellent music?

SBN coverage of UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy

Full video after the jump.

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(So, a Brit and a New Yorker walk into a bar...)

Episode 2 of 'UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Hardy' will be on tonight at 10pm ET on Spike.

For those who couldn't figure out who Dan Hardy was going to visit at the end of last episode, it's Matt Serra. Some secret weapon.

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"Let's go to the movies! Let's go see the stars!"

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When WKR first heard about the possibility of viewing a UFC pay-per view in a crowded theater of like minded fans we thought this would be a great moment to dust off the old flask and act like a freshmen in college again.

But the Gal's Guide pointed out the potential flaw in this plan:

The UFC has announced that they're partnering with Fathom Events to show UFC 111 at movie theaters across the country.  Sounds potentially interesting, right?  Well I just checked, and tickets are twenty five #@*!% dollars plus a service fee!  Holy crap, kids.  That is one expensive movie theater experience.  Do they charge extra for the sticky floors and broken seats?  I just don't see how this is going to work out.  I mean, you're probably not going to go by yourself, right?  So for two people you're looking at over $50.  Why the hell wouldn't you just get the PPV?

It seems that the UFC has heard the cries of, "why in the hell do I want to spend that much money to hear someone say, ‘don't go into the bathroom, the killer is in there!'?"

Instead the promotion will hold several "viewing parties" with fighters, which might be a good reason to spend the extra cash to go watch it in a theater. That and the popcorn.

MMA Mania has the list which is after the jump:

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(Take this you damn dirty swabs!)

The Las Vegas Sun passes along the latest legal filing from Zuffa in their attempt to battle internet pirates:

Las Vegas-based Zuffa LLC, owner of the UFC, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Friday against the Web sites www.watchufc111.com and www.watchufc111free.com

Attorneys for Zuffa, Michael Feder and John Krieger of the Las Vegas office of the law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, charge in the complaint that an individual in Framlingham, Suffolk, United Kingdom, registered the watchufc111 name and an individual in Jacksonville, Fla., registered the watchufc111free name.

The suit alleges UFC's next mixed martial arts event, UFC 111, is set for March 27 and that the Web sites at issue have been linking to sites promoting free access to UFC 111, which is scheduled to be a pay-per-view event.

For those that are keeping tally, this marks the second and third websites Zuffa has made legal moves against. The company also filed papers against a Boston area bar.

WKR has said this before (and we will keep saying while the legal campaign continues), "if Swiss Bankers and online Poker have taught us anything it is that one nation's crime is another nation's economy".

WKR pointed out before that there is another reason why UFC 111, which takes place in Newark, New Jersey, is such a strong card. It isn't because the last time the UFC was in Jersey the card was crap. Or that there are a lot of fighters coming off of injuries, though it certainly helped. It is because New York, and Madison Square Garden, are across the bay.

What better way to show off the economic effects of a mega-UFC event for New York --a major push of Zuffa's lobbying effort-- than by putting a mega event right next door?

The UFC is even rolling out a special viewing party at Radio City Music Hall and the pre-fight press conference will be held in the iconic hall as well.

But there is an interesting caveat on this flaneur strategy. The deadline for Governor Paterson's budget --the one that repeals the MMA ban and has tax revenue from regulated events-- is April 1st. If the budget isn't passed then it is back to committee. Which went so well last time...

SBN coverage of UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy

The first episode of UFC Primetime: GSP vs. Hardy showed off some memorable imagery, beautiful cinematography, good music and decent interviews, which totally got WKR pumped for UFC 111. Here are some of the highlights:

- Georges St. Pierre starts his interview with a quote from Michelangelo. Clearly he is the most sophisticated fighter in the UFC.

- Dan Hardy rise  was described as "meteoric". Goldie got his hands on this script.

- "it's just so sweet proving people wrong." ~ Dan Hardy

- Why is it that the image of a young Dan Hardy running around the playground kicking kids is so amusing?

- Dan Hardy's gameplan: GSP can't take a punch so hit him really hard.

- Good god! Dan Hardy's mohawk gets Buckingham treatment.

- Is Georges training with Renzo because he wants to train with Renzo or is it that Zuffa wants the casual fans to know who Renzo is or are we just being conspiracy theorists due to being doped up on NyQuil?

- "Hungry goes a long way but not as much as preparation." ~ Firas Zahabi

- Whose Dan Hardy's mystery training partner? Could it be Matt Serra? Oh my god! That is what we call a cliffhanger.

Update: The first episode of 'Primetime' drew a million viewers.

Update #2: It totally was Matt Serra.

SBN coverage of UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy

Watch Episode 1 after the jump.

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Yep, Rachelle Leah is back!

The hottest ticket in New Jersey just got hotter, as it has been announced that Playboy cover model and UFC All-Access host Rachelle Leah will be returning to her old gig as Octagon Girl for one night only on Saturday, March 27th at UFC 111 in Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center.

Welcome back Rachelle!

Now we won't feel guilty about posting pictures of Leah for no reason other than...our...enjoyment...

SBN coverage of UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy

High production quality? Stunning visuals? The MMA version (read as: over-dramatic) of Liev Schreiber narrating? That can mean only one thing--UFC Primetime is back!

Zuffa hasn't gone to the Primetime well since UFC 94 for St. Pierre vs. Penn II and now the documentary series that helped build hype for HBO boxing bouts and Jimmie Johnson (who is he again?) gets to work its magic for the first of what will be several mega UFC cards.

The first episode will be broadcast at 10pm ET on Spike TV.  Episodes are planned for each week leading up to the fight on March 27th in Newark, New Jersey.

SBN coverage of UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy

"I would like to apologize to Brock Lesnar, his family, the UFC and the UFC fans for my stupid remarks," said Mir. "I respect Brock, all the other fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts.  I’m sorry that I stepped out of line."

However the feeling of moral outrage has subsided as several intrepid writers have pointed out that other fighters, including Brock Lesnar himself, have used the death threat as a hype generator.

The fears over a mainstream media outcry have diminished so much --Michael Wilbon of PTI brushed it off like nothing at all-- that Mir now feels comfortable enough to pull a second about face to Ben Fowlkes:

"When I got called in and they told me, 'Listen man, this is an issue,' I kind of had a smirk on my face the whole time," says Mir, who was quoted in a public apology for the remark on the UFC's Web site earlier this week. "I was like, you're kidding, right? This is a joke, right? I've heard people say that this is to the death. I've heard people say about an opponent, 'I'm going to kill him.' I heard Brock say he was going to put his hand up my rear end to pull out a horseshoe. I didn't hear anyone get too upset about that."

"No one's been able to explain it to me yet," Mir says. "I thought we understood that what we say on camera is part of the entertainment aspect of our sport and we kind of get a little artistic license. It's not like I said this to my neighbor, that if his dog shows up in my yard one more time I'm going to kill him. That would be bad. That's a problem. I didn't understand it, but hey, it came my way, I said it, and I can't cry about it now. I've just got to deal with it, I guess."

WKR is curious to see how the UFC will respond to one of their fighters basically screaming, "no tag backs I had my fingers crossed!" after apologizing through UFC.com.

But on the positive side of things WKR assumes we are back to the s*** talking status quo. Just don't ever get specific with how you want to kill someone or say it after several people have died from or during sports related events.