The heavy favorite to win back the UFC welterweight title, French Canadian Georges “Rush” St. Pierre finished the fight with a series of punches and huge knees to Matt Serra’s body at 4:44 of the second round in front of a North American MMA record crowd of 21,390 at the Bell Centre.

St. Pierre (15-2, 10-2 UFC) won back the UFC welterweight title belt he lost to Serra last year at UFC 69 in Houston. But the big winner on the night was UFC president Dana White, who was not only impressed with GSP’s fight but also with Canada’s love affair with mixed martial arts.

“He looked like the real Georges St. Pierre tonight. He came out on a mission and implemented his game plan. Serra said you’ve never seen anyone beat me up in 8½ years — he got beat up tonight. I’d call Georges pound-for-pound No. 2 in the world (behind UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva).”

UFC 83 went down as the biggest fight and fastest sellout in UFC history. And Georges St-Pierre looked every bit the new Canadian hero.

“He should be on the cover of a Wheaties box here in Canada,” added White.

The long-awaited rematch of Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre finally went down on Saturday night at UFC 83 in Montreal. The results were as predictable as the method that GSP used (a barrage of knees) to win a second-round TKO over Matt Serra. GSP put his recent training with the Canadian National Wrestling Team to use by taking Serra down from the start, and completely dominating him on the ground. After a few elbows to the face, and even more knees to the ribs, Serra was beaten down enough for the ref to step in.

Rich Franklin easily handled Travis Lutter in a Middleweight bout, winning by TKO in the second due to strikes. Michael Bisping looked trim as a Middleweight, dominating submission expert Charles McCarthy for a first-round TKO due to strikes.

Nate Quarry defeated Kalib Starnes by unanimous decision, and Mac Danzig submitted Mark Bocek by rear-naked choke.

The folks at UFC like to plan ahead. With their huge UFC 83 event in Montreal still two weeks away, the card for UFC 86 in July is already being filled out. Your hosts: the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Here’s the expected main card:

Light Heavyweight Championship: Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin
Lightweight: Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
Middleweight: Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
Welterweight: Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
Heavyweight: Frank Mir vs. Justin McCully

The folks at American Top Team  spilled the beans just over a week ago about the addition of four of their fighters to the card. Tibau made it onto the main deck, while Cole Miller, Steve Bruno and Ben Saunders are awaiting word on their opponents.

Although the UFC hasn’t officially announced anything, it’s believed this event will be called UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin. Jackson is the –260 favorite, Griffin the +200 underdog.

Next month’s UFC 83 event is not your typical MMA show. It’s the promotion’s maiden voyage into Canada; seven of the 11 matches on the card will feature Canadian content, led by the main event pitting Georges St. Pierre against Matt Serra for the undisputed Welterweight title.

The relative lack of star power on the undercard leaves just five of the 11 fights up on the betting board, and none of those five figures to be a close contest. But the interest in the main event dwarfs all other concerns. St. Pierre (-450) is the heavy favorite on his home soil of Montreal. However, Serra is a compelling value pick at +300, having already beaten GSP for the Welterweight crown one year ago.

Sharp MMA bettors are already fully aware how proficient the fighters coming out of The Ultimate Fighter reality series have been. Graduates include Serra, Keith Jardine, Diego Sanchez, Josh Koscheck and Forrest Griffin. GSP, garde-toi.

Montreal is currently up to its baguette in snow. But it’ll be a hot night at the Bell Center come Apr. 19, when the UFC holds its first pay-per-view on Canadian soil. The main event pits Georges St. Pierre, born just south of Montreal in the village of Saint-Isidore, against Matt Serra for the undisputed Welterweight title.

St. Pierre (15-2 lifetime) is the prohibitive favorite at –450, with Serra at +300. This is the second go-around for these two fighters; one year ago at UFC 69, Serra took the strap from GSP as a +1100 underdog. St. Pierre blamed the loss on personal problems, overhauled his staff, and has since out-wrestled former NCAA champion Josh Koscheck and forced Matt Hughes to submit.

Serra (9-4) never got to defend his title after suffering a herniated disc. He claims to be at full strength, but can he stop GSP’s quest for revenge after a year away from the octagon? Snow telling.

UFC 83 in beautiful Montreal  is coming up next month. The main event of this nine-bout card: Matt Serra versus local boy Georges St. Pierre for the Undisputed Welterweight championship.

From a betting perspective, Serra is absolutely the right choice at +300. He was an even better choice at +1100 when he beat St. Pierre for the title one year ago at UFC 69. But I am fully expecting St. Pierre (-450) to get his pound of flesh in front of a capacity Bell Centre crowd.

This is UFC’s first event in Canada, a country with a considerable appetite for combat sports. UFC 83 sold out the 21,000-seat venue faster than a St. Pierre superman punch. The place will erupt if and when GSP regains his Welterweight crown. Perhaps the UFC will put the cherry on top by introducing Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture to the crowd…