Serra, St. Pierre to unify title belt

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White announced last week the organization was hoping to host an event in Canada in April.

Now, it appears he has landed a main event for that card.

UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra confirmed Monday that he will fight Georges St. Pierre in the interim champion’s native Quebec.

“That’s the plan right now,” Serra said.

Serra was forced to withdraw from his scheduled title defense against Matt Hughes on Dec. 29 after he suffered a herniated disk in his back during training.

St. Pierre stepped in to fight Hughes for the interim title and scored a dominant second-round submission victory.

Now, Serra and St. Pierre will fight to unify the crown atop the UFC’s planned April 19 card in Montreal.

It will not be the first time the two have met in the octagon. Serra scored the biggest upset of 2007 with a first-round TKO of then-champion St. Pierre in April. St. Pierre was an 11-1 favorite.

This will be the first title defense for Serra, and it will take place more than a year after he became champion.

When he suffered the injury training to fight Hughes, it was unknown how long he would be forced out of action. But Serra says he’s ready now and isn’t concerned about reinjuring his back during training.

“I don’t want to take a turn into negative town, man. I feel real positive about everything right now,” Serra said after a training session Monday.

• MMA STARS ON NBC — Two mixed martial arts stars made their debuts in prominent roles on NBC over the past week.

Las Vegas native Gina Carano is one of the gladiators on the new prime-time version of “American Gladiators.” The remake of the early-1990’s program aired its first episode Sunday night.

Carano’s first event was the joust, in which she scored an impressive win over the first contender, then fought to a draw with the second.

It is not the first foray into TV for Carano, who was featured on the Oxygen Network’s reality show “Fight Girls.”

Carano, the daughter of former UNR and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Glenn Carano, will next fight on the undercard of an EliteXC card Feb. 16 in Miami. The card is headlined by street fighter Kimbo Slice, who will fight Tank Abbott.

Also, former UFC champion Tito Ortiz is one of the stars featured on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Ortiz and the men’s team won the first challenge on Thursday’s premiere, sparing him from being fired first.

• INTERIM HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE — With “retired” UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture looking less likely to step into the octagon anytime soon, the organization has announced the interim title will be awarded to the winner of the Feb. 2 fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champion Tim Sylvia.

The two will fight at the MGM Grand on a card that features a heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and former heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or (702) 224-5509.