The Ultimate Fighting Championship will mark yet another first this summer by running two events on consecutive days in the same city.
UFC 175 is scheduled to cap off the 2014 version of International Fight Week, a weeklong gathering for UFC fans in Las Vegas. It takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on July 5.
On Thursday, UFC president Dana White confirmed rumors during a media scrum that the promotion will also run a second card the following day, when the Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale takes place in the same venue.
The UFC has run events on consecutive days in the past but never in the same city or the same venue.
The Finale event will conclude the next season of the reality show, which features coaches Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn. The coaches are expected to meet at the conclusion of the season, but it isn’t known if they will fight at UFC 175 or in the main event of the Ultimate Fighter Finale.
Penn has been semi-retired since losing to Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 8 in December 2012.
The Ultimate Fighter 19 is scheduled to begin airing on Fox Sports 1, likely on Wednesday nights, in early spring. Edgar has been out of action since last July, but he already owns two wins over Penn at lightweight. The fight will mark Penn’s featherweight debut.
The International Fight Week is one of the UFC’s biggest events of the calendar year, and UFC 175 is likely to feature the strongest card the promotion can put together.
Last year’s event was headlined by Anderson Silva defending his middleweight title against Chris Weidman.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com