If you're a fan of the UFC's dynamic 170-pound stable of fighters, then you're not going to want to miss UFC 111 on March 27.

Six of the ten allotted matches on the card will feature welterweight fighters.  The event's centerpiece will serve as the hinge for the future of the division as comfortably nestled champion Georges St. Pierre will defend his belt against top challenger Dan Hardy, the fiery brawler with a left-hook that registers on the Richter Scale.  The clearcut number one and two contenders in the category, Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves, will collide in a highly anticipated rematch that will establish who is next in line for a crack at the title.  These two fights alone absolutely stack the card, as these are the four best welterweights in the world.

If that's not enough, the division will also be welcoming some talented new members to it's ranks:  fan-favorite Nate Diaz will climb a weight class and make his first UFC welterweight appearance versus the trigger-happy Rory Markham, and battle-hardened submissionist Ricardo Almeida will drop down after a storied middleweight career to make his divisional debut against one of the most under-rated and under-appreciated scrappers in the business, Matt "The Immortal" Brown, while undefeated Greg Soto will enter the octagon for the first time against former TUF-standout Matt Riddle.

You're still not sold?  Let's throw in what's sure to unfold as an explosive slugfest between two of the scariest strikers on the UFC roster with a Ben "Killa B" Saunders and Jake Ellenberger pairing, just for good measure. 

Even if you've developed an acute hatred for any and all things "welterweight", you can always fall back on the interim-heavyweight championship fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin.  Ladies and gentlemen, this card is stacked to the ceiling with exhilarating match-ups. 

The impact that this event will have on the 170-pound class will be monumental.  Will the near-omnipotent GSP steamroll another foe en route to his sixth consecutive title defense?  Or does the brash Brit with the anvil fists pose a legitimate chance to unseat the champ?

Since the tone of my build-up might be assuming an infomercial-like resonance, allow me to interject some flavor:  in all of his twenty-one fights, GSP has only faced three great strikers.  Thiago Alves definitely fits the bill, and although he is a veritable Muay Thai monster, most of his victories have come from knees, elbows, and an accumulation of strikes versus one-punch lullabies.  He also struggled with GSP's surprisingly gargantuan reach advantage, a stat for the champ that has been unusually shrouded in mystery, but played a role nonetheless in GSP's success versus Alves on the feet.  Although he's obviously better suited to 155, and didn't get many chances to exchange on the feet in their second landmark fight, BJ Penn has also become a great striker.  Pete Spratt makes the list as well, but he never excelled on the big stage, and was taken down immediately by GSP before being choked out.

The differing aspects that Dan Hardy brings to the table as a premiere striker are his comparable height and reach dimensions and the devastating power of his hands.  Of course, Hardy will face a tall order if he finds himself underneath GSP on the ground, as would any other welterweight in the world--but when assessing the champ's vulnerabilities, I think we all relive flashes of the jaw-dropping shock of Matt Serra clobbering GSP to the canvas with a rocket-fueled right hand. 

St. Pierre has never faced a striker like Hardy before, and it will be interesting to see how MMA's most dominant welterweight adjusts to the adversity of a twist in styles from a hungry and defiant new challenger. 

UFN 5 way back in 2006 served as the setting for the first Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves encounter, which resulted in Fitch rocking Alves with a perfectly timed up-kick from his back as Alves attempted to rain down punches.  Fitch has fully secured second place in the division by toppling all of his foes (11-1 UFC record) excluding GSP; with Alves holding the third slot by having the same success (9-3 UFC record) against all but the champ, Fitch, and a suspect submission-loss to Spencer Fisher at UFN 2 in Alves' UFC debut.  After Fitch defeated him, Alves reeled off an impressive string of seven-straight wins to earn a title shot, cleaving a fierce path through established names like Josh Koscheck, Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, and Matt Hughes.  It's worth noting that Alves finished those last three fighters mentioned, which speaks volumes about the prowess of his stand-up skills.

Alves accelerated upwards in the divisional rankings when 170 was still mostly dominated by powerhouse wrestlers and savvy grapplers by relying on his finely-honed buzzsaw striking, significant strength, and some stiff takedown defense.  These tools will be of unconditional importance for Alves as he once again squares off with one of the most intelligent and efficient groundfighters inside the octagon.  Fitch will be looking to capture and contain Alves on the canvas to neutralize his strengths, and Alves will be focused on remaining unconstrained and able to unleash the rhythm of his striking symphony.

Now, on to our welterweight virgins.  The irritation associated with the steep cut in weight along with the agony of a few recent defeats left 170 pounds as the most appealing pathway for the irascible Nate Diaz.  The polarizing Stockton young gun emerged as the victor of TUF 5 and further propelled his momentum by staying flawless through his next four fights, but the steadily enhancing level of competition eventually caught up to him, as Diaz then fell short in three of his next four. 

One of the many qualities that Nate shares with big brother Nick is that their UFC shortcomings have been at the hands of noble opposition in closely-contested decision affairs, and even if you don't agree that Nate could have potentially been given the nod in the Gray Maynard and Clay Guida fights (stranger rulings have been handed down), you have to admit that he's a worthy foe for any lightweight and always entertains.

How he will fare in an elevated weight class remains to be seen, although if his venture north on the scales is anything like Nick's, greener pastures await.  On the surface, the move seems somewhat illogical, as his extra height and reach caused calamity for many of the smaller 55'ers, an edge that will be drastically whittled down amongst the larger welterweights.  His busy output but lack of power on the feet will still remain an issue, isolating his brilliant Jiu-Jitsu arsenal as his biggest key to victory, and possibly still leaving himself susceptible to being either out-hustled or out-pointed on the score cards.

Kamikaze striker Rory Markham will put another of Diaz' questionable habits to the test.  Having complete faith in his cast-iron chin, Nate has been content to stand flat-footed in the pocket to trade blows, a tactic that may prove unwise against Markham's stout kickboxing.  Favoring the right high-kick, Rory Markham has amassed a near 70% winning percentage by stoppage due to strikes, will be more than content to engage Diaz in the brawl he prefers. 

Markham has split the two fights in his young UFC career, decapitating Brodie Farber with his bread and butter head-kick, but folding to Dan Hardy's signature left hook.  This will be a great middle-of-the-road test to measure Diaz' potential in his new territory, and being a longtime member of the prestigious Miletich camp, Markham will be well prepared for the even the most intrinsic of Nate Diaz' unique strengths--even his in-cage trash talking.

If you're not intimately familiar with New Jersey's own Ricardo "Big Dog" Almeida, all you need to know is that his premiere black belt-level submissions are dangerous enough to have provoked a tapout from middleweight phenom Nate Marquardt in a Pancrase match made historic by Renzo Gracie's post-fight antics.  Almeida had a brief UFC run early in his career where he was disqualified against Matt Lindland for three consecutive upkicks to the head after the rule banning the technique had just been implemented, then carried on to submit Eugene Jackson, but succumb to the strikes of Red Devil fighter Andrei Semenov. 

Almeida proceeded overseas and conquered Minowa, Sasaki, Misaki, and Marquardt before besting Ryo Chonan at Pride Bushido 3, then dropped out of the MMA scene from 2004 to 2008.  Almeida re-emerged in the octagon at UFC 81, and his since posted a 3-1 record at middleweight with the lone loss being a close split-decision to Patrick Cote. 

Almeida will face a true diamond in the rough when he steps into the cage with blue collar bad-ass Matt Brown.  "The Immortal" has quite unintentionally attracted a small legion of hardcore fans onto his bandwagon, all of whom have taken note of his fearless aggression and straightforward violence.  Brown is also a very down-to-earth and modest assassin, who is never one to make grandiose claims or disparage his opponent; thus he defines the term "all business".

Brown first started to sneak-up on us during his stint on "The Ultimate Fighter 7".  Although he was choked out by eventual winner Amir Sadollah, he turned a lot of heads when he hung tough before being edged out on the score cards with the heavily hyped Dong Hyun Kim; an entertaining split-decision affair that many felt Brown may have won.  His inherent durability and natural knack for fighting will be an interesting contrast to Almeida's fluent grappling style and extensive experience.

7-0 Greg Soto will find out if he's UFC caliber in his entry-fight versus another TUF 7 cast member in wrestler Matt Riddle.  Soto's most recent win over Ray Steinbess is his biggest, and he's a well-rounded product who poses a moderate threat off of his back, a position that Riddle will most likely put him in.  Riddle was the lefty that brutally laid-out Dan Simmler to earn a spot in the TUF house, but later couldn't fight out of a Tim Credeur armbar.  Riddle decisioned  three straight fighters in Dante Rivera, Steve Bruno, and Dan Cramer before suffering his first professional loss to the UK's Nick Osczipak in his last outing.

Wrapping up the spotlight on the welterweights is a fuel-injected barnburner between the UFC's meanest beanpole, Ben "Killa B" Saunders, taking on Jake Ellenberger.  Ellenberger joins Dan Hardy as the 170-pound division's most powerful sluggers.  He hurls earth-shattering lefts and rights with extreme ferocity, and is also a stout wrestler with excellent submission knowledge, although he prefers to hammer down strikes from the top position. 

Saunders accomplished the rare feat of being the only fighter to knock Marcus Davis out cold, implementing a nasty clinch game that was punctuated by a series of vicious knees to Davis' noggin, garnering a much-needed win for Saunders after being TKO'd by Swick for his first MMA loss.  The ATT Muay-Thai machine is 8-1-2 overall, and now 4-1 inside the octagon.

Once again, it's astounding that amidst this endless heap of salivating match-ups still lies an interim-heavyweight title fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, as well as three more tilts featuring Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek, Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal, and Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes.

I would say we're getting quite the bang for the buck in this one.  Kudos to the UFC and matchmaker Joe Silva for assembling such an amazing card. 

UFC WW Championship-  Georges St. Pierre  vs. Dan Hardy

UFC Interim-Heavyweight Championship-  Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin 

Jon Fitch  vs. Thiago Alves 
Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown
Jake Ellenberger vs. Ben Saunders
Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek
Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes
Matt Riddle vs. Greg Soto