Tag: Press Release

TPress Release – Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship is once again taking over Fourth of July weekend in Las Vegas. The organization formally announced today that UFC® middleweight champion and undisputed pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva will return to the Octagon® on Saturday, July 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to face undefeated No. 1 contender Chris Weidman. That’s not all: this week in July also marks the return of the UFC Fan Expo®, as well as Fight Week, a series of fan events, concerts, and appearances featuring your favorite UFC fighters and personalities.

“The best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, defends the middleweight title for a record 11th time on July 6 when he takes on unbeaten Chris Weidman,” UFC President Dana White said. “Weidman is 9-0 in his pro career and has incredible wrestling and power. He said he will shock the world at UFC 162 and end Anderson’s reign atop the middleweight division. With UFC 162, the UFC Fan Expo and Fight Week, this is going to be an amazing week for fight fans. You have to be in Las Vegas this Fourth of July weekend!”

In addition to the Silva-Weidman showdown, Frankie Edgar (15-4-1, fighting out of Toms River, N.J.), a former lightweight champion and currently the third-ranked featherweight in the world, battles Brazil’s Charles Oliveira (16-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Guaruja, Sao Paulo, Brazil), while former Strikeforce middleweights make their UFC debuts as Tim Kennedy (15-4, fighting out of Austin, Texas) takes on Rio de Janeiro’s Roger Gracie (6-1).

In addition, fourth-ranked “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung (13-3, fighting out of Po-Hang, South Korea) returns from a yearlong layoff due to injury to meet second-ranked Ricardo Lamas (13-2, fighting out of Chicago, Ill.) in a fight that could determine the next challenger for the featherweight title, while fifth-ranked featherweight Cub Swanson (19-5, fighting out of Palm Springs, Calif.) faces Germany’s sixth-ranked Dennis Siver (21-8).

Other bouts for UFC 162 include:
• Seventh-ranked middleweight star Mark Munoz (12-3, fighting out of Lake Forrest, Calif.) vs. heavy-handed 10th-ranked contender Tim Boetsch (12-3, fighting out of Sunbury, Pa.).
• 185-pound fan favorite Chris Leben (22-9, fighting out of Oahu, Hawaii) vs. Andrew Craig (8-1, fighting out of Houston, Texas).
• Northern Ireland’s Norman Parke (17-2) vs. Japan’s Kazuki Tokudome (12-3-1) in a lightweight showdown.
• Brazil’s Edson Barboza (11-1) challenges Montreal’s John Makdessi (11-2).
• Heavyweights Shane Del Rosario (8-1, fighting out of Irvine, Calif.) vs. Dave Herman (21-5, fighting out of Temecula, Calif.).
• Welterweights Seth Baczynski (17-7, fighting out of Apache Junction, Ariz.) vs. Houston’s Brian Melancon (6-2).
• Portland’s Mike Pierce (16-5) vs. David Mitchell (12-2, fighting out of Santa Rosa, Calif.) in a welterweight contest.

Tickets for UFC®162: SILVA vs. WEIDMAN, presented by BUD LIGHT®, go on sale Friday, May 10 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $1200, $850, $600, $400, $250 and $125. Tickets will be available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, May 8 at 10 a.m. PT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, May 9 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC®162: SILVA vs. WEIDMAN will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, 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.

About The UFC Fan Expo®
The UFC Fan Expo® returns to Las Vegas on Friday, July 5 and Saturday, July 6 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Fans will have the chance to meet their favorite stars during autograph sessions, meet-and-greets, interactive Q&A sessions, grappling tournaments, training and development seminars, and much more. Over 50 UFC stars are scheduled to appear and more than 150 exhibitors will also be on hand, giving fans the opportunity to purchase and experience some of the best sports and lifestyle products on the market today. Tickets and VIP packages are on sale now at www.ufcfanexpo.com.

About UFC Fight Week
The UFC and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) are partnering to make Fourth of July week not just a Las Vegas tradition, but the ultimate week-long celebration of the UFC for fans around the world. Some of the biggest properties in Las Vegas will be hosting UFC themed events, including the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mandalay Bay, Lagasse’s Stadium at the Palazzo, Fremont Street Experience, Golden Nugget, South Point, and more. The signature sporting occasion will feature the largest ever gathering of fighters, unprecedented access to UFC stars, exclusive pool parties hosted by Octagon Girls™, a concert, UFC Fan Expo®, charitable events in the community, Tuff-N-Uff amateur MMA tournament, official UFC parties, and, of course, the week will culminate with one of the biggest sporting events of the year, UFC® 162: SILVA vs. WEIDMAN. For more information, visit http://www.visitlasvegas.com/ufc and http://www.ufc.com/fightweek.

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

Press Release – LOS ANGELES, CA – On this week’s UFC TONIGHT, Chael Sonnen returns after UFC 159 and talks about his fight, retirement and his next opponent. Plus, we’ve got news about Jon Jones’ injury, Roy Nelson’s next fight and much more.

Quote of the Week: UFC TONIGHT’s Chael Sonnen on if he’ll keep fighting and at what weight class: “I’ll fight at 205. I’m not retiring. I’m 36 years old. I have a lot of goals and I’m not going to reach them if I retire. I don’t have a lot of options at 185. I’ve fought everyone in the top 10, including the champion a couple of times. So I moved up to 205, but I lost to the champ and it wasn’t a competitive enough match to warrant another chance. So what do I do? It was a lot better experience, not having to get the weight off. I’ll give up the size, but have a smile on my face. I could be talked into going back down if that’s where the fights are. The landscape changes quickly. I think there will be a big shakeup on July 4th weekend when Weidman gets his hands on Anderson.”

Sonnen on what it was like in the Octagon with Jones: “This was like getting into a bear cage. This guy was a monster of a man. We weighed in at the same size the day before, and I don’t know how that was possible. I put my arms around him and I thought, ‘oh my god, you’re a big guy.’ As far as the match went, I got beat up.”

Sonnen on what he thought about the early stoppage: “It’s two-fold, any time the ref helps you and stops a fight to keep you from getting hurt, you never want to come out and say anything that could disparage his judgment. At the same time, we’re in the middle of an ass-whipping contest, let us get after it. When I had my hands up because a guy is punching me, that’s called defense. But I never want to question a referee.”

Sonnen on how he would have felt winning the belt if Jones couldn’t fight with the broken toe: “Diplomatically you don’t ever want to win that way. The ones that hurt are the ones you’re supposed to win and then you blow it. But if it was given to me, I would have grabbed that belt, I would have held it up, grabbed the mic and told the crowd the golden rule is ‘he with the gold rules,’ and I would have walked out of the place and never looked back.”

Sonnen on how he envisioned the fight was going to go: “I was going to have to grind him down. I could see him he poses a lot of problems. He’s big, he’s strong and he’s got the wing span of a radioactive condor. I knew he’d take me down, but I never thought that he could take me down repeatedly. That was a surprise. And the fact that he tried so quickly, I was thrown off a little.”

Sonnen on if he’d like to fight Vitor Belfort or Wanderlei Silva: “Wanderlei called me out before, but the fight never made sense. Now it does. I’m not going anywhere until me and Wanderlei straighten this thing out once and for all. Wanderlei pulled a dirt bag move on me one time. He said something to me that I couldn’t hear, and then put it on YouTube with subtitles because he knew I couldn’t understand it and called me out. If you’re a fighter, that doesn’t fly. You must respond to him, and I’m ready to respond to you Wanderlei.”

UFC TONIGHT Insider Ariel Helwani on Jon Jones’ status: “His manager Malki Kawa told me to today that they just don’t know how long he’ll be sidelined for. In a couple days, he’s going to meet with his doctor in Upstate New York and then after a few weeks, he’s going to meet with a specialist.”

Helwani on a possible Anderson Silva vs. Jones fight: “I spoke to Anderson Silva and he didn’t want to talk about the alleged phone conversation with Dana White. He said that he’s 100 percent focused on Chris Weidman and isn’t looking past him. He also said that he watched Jones vs. Sonnen, he liked the fight, but he doesn’t know what Jon Jones is going to do next. He also said that Chael Sonnen is a great fighter, but Jon Jones is a better fighter.”

Sonnen on who he thinks Anderson Silva should fight next: “In my opinion, I don’t think he’s looking at Jones. I think he’s keeping his eye on [Georges] St-Pierre.”

Lyoto Machida on if he would fight Alexander Gustafsson: “I’m definitely interested in this fight. Now I think it’s a good idea to put Gustafsson against me – let’s see what’s going to happen.”

Helwani on if Gustafsson would fight Machida: “Gustafsson told me he’s down with fighting Machida as well.”

Helwani on a possible Daniel Cormier vs. Roy Nelson fight: “Daniel Cormier tweeted on Saturday that he’s interested in fighting Roy Nelson next. I spoke to Nelson’s manager, Mike Kogan, and he told me he’s not interested in this fight. He doesn’t think it makes any sense for Nelson. He wants Roy to fight either Bigfoot Silva if he loses to Cain Velasquez, or Junior dos Santos or Mark Hunt.”

Dr. Robert Klapper on Jones’ expected rehab process: “The rehabilitation involves putting the toe back into place. Because there’s no fracture of the bone – it’s just a dislocation – in six weeks it’s healed, then you start range of motion and strengthening rehab. He’ll be back to fighting in six to eight weeks.”

UFC TONIGHT Host Kenny Florian on what sets apart the athletes who work on the show: “As fighters, we do our job and when we’re done we pick up and move on. Two weeks ago Daniel Cormier fought on FOX UFC SATURDAY, and on Tuesday he was here on set working right next to me. And I’d like to salute my partner Chael who put it all on the line just three days ago and today he’s here just like I knew he’d be, win or lose, bruises and all. Flip through the channels and try to find anyone who competed for a world championship just days before and then hosting a national television show, and my guess is you won’t find that anywhere else. We come here because we love the sport, as well as the fans, and we know you at home appreciate all that we do. Again, Chael, we salute you.”

UFC TONIGHT
UFC TONIGHT is the official weekly news and information show of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The show is co-hosted by veteran UFC fighter and multiple title contender Kenny Florian and UFC light heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen. Leeann Tweeden contributes, while three-time World MMA Awards Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani adds insider news.

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