Bryan Alvarez of Figure 4 Online reported during the site’s daily update on Tuesday that the UFC appears likely to return to Montreal at the Bell Centre on Dec. 5 with current UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre a possible headliner.

Alvarez adds that the site will have more news on the situation tomorrow, as the recent news has not yet been made official by the UFC.

St. Pierre has stated in recent radio interviews that he does not intend to return until early-2009 after fighting frequently the past 12 months. However, if UFC officials want to do a card in Montreal in early December and they want St. Pierre on it, they could try to convince him to take a fight on that date.

The news of a possible Dec. 5 is intriguing, as the UFC has shows planned for November and on Dec. 27.

UFC officials have been rumored to be working on a possible main event involving Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva for a Nov. show that could take place in Portland, Ore. It should be noted that the availability for both fighters is still uncertain. Jackson has legal issues that must be addressed with and Silva specifically requested that the UFC not schedule him for a fight before December.

Nothing has been announced officially for the Dec. 27 show, which tentatively planned to take place in Las Vegas. However, it is expected that UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will take on Frank Mir. Chuck Liddell could also be in action if he’s able to defeat Rashad Evans next month and does so without sustaining a serious injury. It’s unclear whether Liddell would fight UFC heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin or if he would be matched up against current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Update: The report has been removed from the website and no retraction has been issued. BloodyElbow.com states that it contacted Dave Meltzer, who indicated their reporting was based on a local report in Montreal and that they were unable to confirm it.

Last night’s UFC 87 event from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. proved to be yet another strong showing from the UFC with very few negatives involved with the promotion and production of the show.

The event saw two of the promotion’s biggest stars walk away victorious in fights that went to the judges yet whose outcomes were never truly in doubt.

Lesnar, the former NCAA and WWE heavyweight champion, got off to an explosive start against Heath Herring, blasting him with an overhand right early in the fight that floored the former PRIDE veteran. Lesnar, who once spent training camp with the Minnesota Vikings, then exploded like a defensive end coming off the edge on a blitz and went in for the kill.

An over-zealous Lesnar landed out of position and was unable to finish Herring during the opening seconds of the fight. However, what proceeded was three rounds of dominance, with Lesnar showing he could take Herring down at will. When it was over, Lesnar evened his UFC record to 1-1 while improving his overall MMA record to 2-1. It is unclear who he’ll face next, but Lesnar showed all the ingredients of a future heavyweight champion during the unanimous decision victory.

While former NCAA wrestler Jon Fitch proved he was the number two ranked welterweight in the world last night with a gritty performance, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre proved there is a strong gap between number one and two. Despite having no formal wrestling background in high school or college, St. Pierre proved to be Fitch’s equal on the mat.

On the feet, Fitch was no match for St. Pierre’s superior athleticism. Despite showing a strong chin and an amazing will to fight with less than his full faculties, Fitch was out-pointed in the standup aspect for virtually the full 25-minute duration of the contest. It was St. Pierre’s utilization of a stiff left jab, reminiscent of how B.J. Penn peppered Sean Sherk during their UFC 84 title fight in May, that appeared to have done the most damage. However, the standup exchange was not one-sided, as Fitch landed his shots as well, managing to open up St. Pierre in the process. But when the bout was done, it was evident by looking at the faces of both fighters that Fitch clearly sustained the most damage.

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MMA Weekly has their hands on the UFC 87 Awards and Bonus figures for the night. They are as follows:

• Jon Fitch and Georges St. Pierre each pocketed an extra $60,000 for Fight of the Night following their five round war for the welterweight title.
• Demian Maia was awarded Submission of the Night and also pocketed an extra $60,000 for his rear naked choke submission against Jason MacDonald in the opening bout of the pay-per-view portion of the show.
• Rob Emerson was awarded Knockout of the Night and also took home an extra $60,000 for his brutal 12 second knockout victory over TUF 5 castmate Manny Gamburyan.

UFC 87 is now in the books and it was one of the best shows, if not the best show, all year. Georges St. Pierre defended his title against an incredibly game Jon Fitch, Brock Lesnar proved his worth against Heath Herring, and Roger Huerta failed to do the same against a technical Kenny Florian. Let’s get right into breaking it down.

Georges St. Pierre is on another level at 170 lbs.

Jon Fitch proved tonight that he is a man’s man and has zero quit in him. His tenacity, recovery speed, and aggression were all extremely admirable. What he also showed is that no one, and I mean no one, in the weight class has what it takes to contend with St. Pierre’s overall game. Standing or on the ground, St. Pierre is dominant. If he can’t finish you with his strikes, he will take you down. If he can’t take you down, he’ll work you over on the feet. He is as multi-dimensional of a fighter as there is in all of mixed martial arts right now and that includes the current consensus pound-for-pound king, Anderson Silva. No one in the weight class has a prayer right now to beat him. Not Thiago Alves, not Jake Shields, not Karo Parisyan, nobody. B.J. Penn is the only fighter with a sliver of a chance and with Penn’s in-ring challenge after the fight, it’s looking like we’ll get to see that superfight sooner than later, hopefully in December.

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Earlier this week, UFC president Dana White flew in to Toronto, Ontario to continue the media blitz for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy.

Amidst all the talk of Roger Huerta’s contract issues and Quinton Jackson’s arrest, White stated that the UFC was in the process of closing a deal that would see the Las Vegas-based promotion return to Montreal, Quebec before the end of the year. In an interview with The Canadian Press, White said, “I literally just left a meeting where we were talking about that. We’re looking to come back to Montreal.”

White continued on by saying the organization hopes to return in November or December.

The UFC’s Canadian debut was a resounding success which saw 21,390 boisterous fans pack the Bell Centre to cheer on hometown favorite Georges “Rush” St. Pierre. The event broke UFC attendance records and the gate closed at $5 million.

Yesterday the guys at Fight Linker raised a very interesting point regarding the UFC’s rumored return. The Montreal Canadiens currently have the Bell Centre booked for the majority of both November and December. The only current dates available are Nov. 1st, Nov. 8th and Dec. 27th.

Should they decide to return in early November, it would mark the UFC’s third event in the span of four weeks, mind you that’s never slowed them down. The UFC is currently scheduled to go to England on October 18th and Illinois on October 25th.

The only other possible venue is Montreal’s Olympic Stadium but at this point that seems like a risky option. Olympic Stadium was constructed in July 1976 and has a seating capacity of 65,000+.

Tonight’s event will have huge implications on the UFC’s decision as the card is expected to be headlined by Georges St. Pierre, if victorious, who will defend his UFC welterweight title against UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn.

There was a lot of speculation recently that former Pride light heavyweight fighter Alistair Overeem was close to signing with the UFC but Overeem competed in Amsterdam for K-1 over the weekend.

The card primarily featured kickboxing matches but there were several MMA rules bouts, and Overeem was a part of one of them. It looks like his appearance for K-1 was not a one time thing as the inside word is that he’s signed a long-term deal.

Overeem is a talented fighter but failed to beat the top competition in Pride on a consistent basis. Noted for his lack of conditioning, he never reached his full potential in Japan and had become somewhat of a glorified gatekeeper. Honestly, I don’t think he would have played any other kind of role in the UFC and essentially would have been the light heavyweight version of Heath Herring. As such, I don’t see not signing Overeem as a loss.

For full results of K-1’s card in Holland (which also features Peter Aerts, Semmy Schlit, and Bob Sapp), just go to:

http://www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp/top788.htm