After earning a series-high 1.9 million viewers for its UFC 109 broadcast, Spike TV's "UFC Prelims" broadcast for this past weekend's UFC 111 event dipped to 1.2 million viewers, MMAjunkie.com today confirmed with an industry source.

The two-fight March 27 broadcast, which featured Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markhman and Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown, faced stiff competition from tail end of the Elite Eight round of the NCAA basketball tournament.

UFC 111 took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and the "UFC Prelims" broadcast served as a teaser for the night's pay-per-view main card.

After enduring a year-long layoff, Shane Carwin posted his most remarkable win to date at UFC 111 with a violent first-round TKO of Frank Mir at this past weekend's UFC 111 event in Newark, N.J.

For Carwin, who twice had scheduled bouts with heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar fall apart, he and fans alike worked hard to keep his name in the MMA forefront - with feature stories, blog posts, Twitter updates and fan appearances - before he won the interim belt and another booking with Lesnar.

However, now that UFC president Dana White has confirmed Cain Velasquez additionally has already earned a title shot, can the fellow contender also stay relevant during an extended layoff?

Saturday night’s UFC 111 event saw six medical suspensions handed down by the The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board who also issued one suspension for disciplinary reasons.

UFC 111 took place Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and aired on Spike TV (two preliminary-card fights) and then pay-per-view (main card).

Brazilian fighter Rousimar Palhares was issued with a 90 day suspension for failing to release his submission hold in time. Palhares locked in a heel-hook on opponent Tomasz Drwal in the first minute after Drwal slipped in the center of the ring. The submission can be very dangerous to an opponents knee and is often banned in lower-level competitions. Palhares locked the submission in putting Drawal in a lot of visible pain, failing to release the hold even after the Polish fighter tapped repeatedly and had to be pried off by referee Kevin Mulhall.

Drwal was handed an indefinite suspension pending an x-ray to his left knee and ankle.

Also given indefinite suspensions were Jared Hamman and Matthew Riddle.

The full UFC 111 fighter suspensions are as follows:

- Frank Mir: Suspended 30 days for precautionary reasons
- Mark Bocek: Suspended 30 days for scalp laceration
- Rory Markham: Suspended 30 days for facial laceration
- Rousimar Palhares: Suspended 90 days for not releasing submission
- Tomasz Drwal: Suspended indefinitely pending X-ray of left knee and ankle
- Jared Hamman: Suspended indefinitely pending X-rays of right foot; also suspended minimum of 60 days due to lacerations on right foot
- Matthew Riddle: Suspended indefinitely pending CT scan

Props MMAjunkie.com

Saturday night’s “UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy” event took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. and drew more than 17,000 fans into the arena for a gate total of approximately $4 million dollars. The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board is expected to release official figures later in the week.

UFC president Dana White offered up this information as well as the “Fight Night” awards during the post-fight press conference.

Walking away with the $65,000 bonuses were Shane Carwin, Kurt Pellegrino, Jared Hamman and Rodney Wallace for their fights at UFC 111.

Shane Carwin was awarded the “Knockout of the Night” award after knocking out former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir in the first round of the co-main event. It took Carwin 3:48 seconds to earn the victory, the longest match of his 12 bout career.

Kurt Pellegrino earned the “Submission of the Night” award for sinking in a rear-naked choke on opponent Fabricio Camoes at 4:20 in the second round. Camoes almost ended the fight earlier in the first round with his own rear-naked choke submission but “Batman” was able to shake free after faceplanting Camoes into the mat during the PPV portion of the fight.

Jared Hamman and Rodney Wallace earned the “Fight of the Night” award for their three round war which took place on the preliminary card of UFC 111. Their bout saw the momentum shift several times with the score card hardly showing the excitement of the match as Hamman was awarded a unanimous decision victory.

NEWARK, N.J. - The Ultimate Fighting Championship's traditional pre-fight highlights segment, a wildly popular montage set to The Who's "Baba O'Riley," has a new clip thanks to UFC 111 fighter Kurt Pellegrino.

Pellegrino, fighting fellow ground ace Fabricio Camoes during Saturday's pay-per-view main card, was nearly put to sleep by a rear-naked choke midway through the first round.

But in a move that prompted even the most hardened fight fan to wince in disbelief, Pellegrino dropped to the canvas and drilled Camoes' head straight into the canvas.

NEWARK, N.J. - UFC president Dana White can keep a secret. He just can't always keep the secret that he has a secret.

Following Saturday's UFC 111 event at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. - the latest blockbuster event for the world's top fight promotion - White dropped some hints.

Soon after telling MMAjunkie.com about his plans for international editions of "The Ultimate Fighter," White said a UFC 113 co-headliner between top contenders Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley could have something extra riding on the line besides a potential title fight with UFC welterweight champion and UFC 111 main-event winner Georges St-Pierre.

NEWARK, N.J. - Following their respective wins at Saturday's UFC 111 event, Jon Fitch asked what his two thumbs and wants a rematch with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

It's pretty easy to imagine where Fitch's upward-turned thumbs were pointing.

However, following the fighters' effective and dominant - yet somewhat unpopular - performances, UFC president Dana White hardly seemed to share their enthusiasm for the potential championship rematch.

NEWARK, N.J. - Just hours after Shane Carwin battered former champ Frank Mir into a first-round TKO defeat and claimed an interim heavyweight title, UFC president Dana White confirmed plans for a title-unification bout.

Following Carwin's victory in the co-headliner of Saturday's UFC 111 event at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., White said he expects the interim title-holder to meet current champ Brock Lesnar in early July.

As MMAjunkie.com first reported earlier this month, Lesnar has been expected to return from a year-long layoff due to illness at a currently unannounced UFC 116 event on July 3.

NEWARK, N.J. - New York, take note.

The more than 17,000 mixed-martial-arts fans who packed the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., for Saturday's UFC 111 event and generated a gate of approximately $4 million could have been yours.

UFC president Dana White, who's long had his eye on the potentially lucrative but currently un-regulated state of New York, announced the preliminary figures in Saturday's post-fight press conference.

NEWARK, N.J. - The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board issued
medical suspensions to six of the competitors from Saturday night's
"UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy" event, and an additional suspension was
issued for disciplinary reasons.

The NJSACB today distributed the list of medical and disciplinary
suspensions to MMAjunkie.com.

UFC 111 took place Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark,
N.J., and aired on Spike TV (two preliminary-card fights) and then
pay-per-view (main card).