Press Release – TORONTO – The Ultimate Fighting Championship®, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, announced today that tickets for its inaugural event in Calgary will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, May 12. UFC® 149: ALDO VS. KOCH sees featherweight champion Jose Aldo defend his145-pound crown against tenacious contender Erik Koch on Saturday, July 21 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Both fighters will join local UFC® middleweight Nick Ring and UFC® Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright for a press conference and other events in Calgary on Wednesday, May 9 at 10 a.m. MTN at Shaw Court.
The July 21 event marks the first of three UFC® events taking place in Canada in 2012 as Toronto (Sept. 22, location to be determined) and Montreal (Nov. 17, Bell Centre) are also set with UFC® dates this calendar year.
Reigning UFC® featherweight champion Jose Aldo (21-1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is undefeated in the UFC as he puts his belt on the line against knockout artist Erik Koch (13-1, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc.). Considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, Aldo has reeled off 14 straight wins and has not lost since 2005. For his part, the 22-year-old Koch has but one career loss and has won four straight with two Knockout of the Night awards in those performances.
Two former UFC® champions add to the star power in Calgary as former light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua (20-6, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil) faces off against Thiago Silva (14-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Sao Paulo, Brazil) while former interim heavyweight champ Minotauro Nogueira (33-7-1, 1 NC, fighting out of Bahia, Brazil) returns to action to face thealways dangerous Cheick Kongo (27-7-2, fighting out of Paris, France). Seasoned veterans also clash as Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-5, 2 NC, fighting out of Osaka, Japan) meets welterweight Thiago Alves (24-8, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) and Michael Bisping (23-4, fighting out of Manchester, England) faces middleweight Tim Boetsch (15-4, fighting out of Sunbury, Penn.).
Five Canadians will also step into the Octagon on July 21 as Edmonton’s Mitch Clarke (9-1) faces lightweight Anton Kuivanen (16-5, fighting out of Helsinki, Finland), Calgary’s Nick Ring (12-1) battles middleweight Court McGee (13-2, fighting out of Orem, Utah), Sudbury, Ontario’s Mitch Gagnon (8-1) takes on bantamweight Bryan Caraway (16-6, fighting out of Goldendale, Washington), Oshawa, Ontario native Antonio Carvalho (13-5) will challenge featherweight George Roop (12-10-1, fighting out of Tucson, Arizona), and Saint John, New Brunswick’s Ryan Jimmo (16-1, fighting out of Edmonton) meets light heavyweight Anthony Perosh (13-6, fighting out of Sydney, Australia).
Tickets for UFC® 149: ALDO VS. KOCH go on sale to the public on Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. MTN. Tickets are priced at $650, $400, $275, $200, $125 and $85 and are available through Ticketmaster.ca, charge by phone 1-855-985-5000, at all Ticketmaster outlets, and the Saddledome Box Office. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.
UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event on Thursday, May 10 at 10 a.m. MTN via the website ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers on Friday, May 11,starting at 10 a.m. MTN. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.
UFC® 149 will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on Shaw Communications, Bell TV, Sasktel and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.
Additional bouts will be announced at UFC.com in the weeks to come. All bouts live and subject to change. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
UFC® 149: ALDO VS. KOCH PRESS CONFERENCE
WHEN: Wednesday, May 9 – 10:00 a.m. MTN (media check starts at 9:00 a.m.)
WHERE: Shaw Court, 630 3rd Avenue SW, Calgary
WHO: Jose Aldo, UFC® Featherweight Champion
Erik Koch, UFC® Featherweight Contender
Nick Ring, UFC® Middleweight and Calgary native
UFC® Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright
NOTE: ***This press conference will be streamed live on UFC.com. Please note, this media event is not open to the public however fans are encouraged to come meet the fighters Wednesday evening at the Chinook Centre Boston Pizza from 7-9 p.m.
CANADIAN FOOTBALL INITIATION WITH CALGARY STAMPEDERS
WHEN: Wednesday, May 9 – 4:00-5:00 p.m. MTN
WHERE: McMahon Stadium, 1817 Crowchild Trail Northwest, Calgary, AB
WHO: Jose Aldo, Erik Koch and Nick Ring, members of the Calgary Stampeders
NOTE: Calgary native Nick Ring and members of the Calgary Stampeders will introduce Canadian football to Aldo and Koch with a training session at McMahon Stadium. Fans are encouraged to follow @calstampeders and @UFC_CA for a chance to attend thisprivate session with the fighters and players.
UFC® AUTOGRAPH SIGNING
WHEN: Wednesday, May 9 – 7-9 p.m. MTN
WHERE: Boston Pizza, Chinook Centre, 6455 Macleod Trail SW, Calgary, AB
WHO: Jose Aldo, Erik Koch and Nick Ring
NOTE: The first 25 fans will receive a free autographed UFC Encyclopedia
About Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, and with offices in London, England, Toronto, Canada and Beijing, China, UFC® produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per- Viewevent provider in the world.
In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now airs on FX in an exciting new live format.
In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 150 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in theUnited States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with ore than two million followers on Twitter.
Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed UFC Magazine, the best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise distributed by THQ, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, and action figures.