Notas recientes sobre la UFC

GUSTAFSSON INJURED; CORMIER TO FIGHT JONES IN MAIN EVENT OF UFC 178

UFC^® 178: JONES vs. CORMIER

SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 – LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW

MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA IN LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas – No. 1 light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson has suffered a knee injury that has forced him to withdraw from his UFC 178 bout with champion Jon Jones. As a result, No. 2 contender Daniel Cormier will challenge Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Undefeated at 15-0 in his pro career, Cormier owns UFC victories over the likes of Frank Mir, Roy Nelson, Patrick Cummins and Dan Henderson. A two-time U.S. Olympian and former standout wrestler at Oklahoma State University, Cormier has long been considered a potential threat to Jones’ reign as 205-pound champion.

He and Jones have traded words in the press for months regarding a potential fight and their feud only intensified once Cormier moved to the light heavyweight division at the start of 2014. This heated rivalry will now finally be settled inside the Octagon^® on Sept. 27 in what could be one of the biggest events of the year.

An updated UFC 178 press tour schedule, as well as ticket information, will be released in the days to come.

CHRIS WEIDMAN TO DEFEND UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE AGAINST

VITOR BELFORT DEC. 6 IN LAS VEGAS

UFC^® 181: WEIDMAN vs. BELFORT

SATURDAY, DEC. 6 – LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW

MANDALAY BAY EVENTS CENTER

Las Vegas – The UFC^® announced that former champion Vitor Belfort was granted a license to compete in the state of Nevada at a commission hearing held today. A winner of three straight, Belfort will now face UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 181 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 6.

Since returning to the UFC in 2009, Belfort has scored victories over some of the biggest names in the sport, including Rich Franklin, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Anthony Johnson, Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson. Now he’ll challenge the champion Weidman, who is the only man to defeat UFC legend Anderson Silva twice. The 30-year-old New Yorker is fresh off a victory over Lyoto Machida early this month in a candidate for 2014 Fight of the Year.

UFC^® 181: WEIDMAN vs. BELFORT will be available live on Pay-Per-View on Saturday, Dec. 6 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.

TOP CONTENDERS MEET AS ‘JACARE’ SOUZA TAKES ON GEGARD MOUSASI

ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 AT

FOXWOODS^® RESORT CASINO

Plus:

ALISTAIR OVEREEM vs. BEN ROTHWELL

MATT MITRIONE vs. DERRICK LEWIS

JOE LAUZON vs. MICHAEL CHIESA

SEAN SORIANO vs. ANDRE FILI

NIK LENTZ vs. CHARLES OLIVEIRA

ROB FONT vs. CHRIS BEAL

RAFAEL NATAL vs. CHRIS CAMOZZI

AL IAQUINTA vs. RODRIGO DAMM

TICKETS FOR UFC FIGHT NIGHT^™: JACARE vs. MOUSASI

AT FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO

ON SALE FRIDAY, JULY 25

Las Vegas, Nevada – The UFC^® returns to Connecticut for the first time in nearly a decade on Friday, September 5 at Foxwoods^® Casino Resort in Mashantucket, Conn. with a five-round main event pitting two of the best middleweights against one another as fourth-ranked Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza takes on seventh-ranked Gegard Mousasi in a bout that could determine the division’s next title contender. The UFC’s last visit to the state saw Andrei Arlovski knock out Paul Buentello in just fifteen seconds of the very first round to defend the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 55 on October 7, 2005.

Currently riding a six-fight win streak, and undefeated inside the Octagon, (No. 4) “Jacare” (20-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) will look to continue his climb toward a UFC title shot with a victory in September. A former STRIKEFORCE^® middleweight champ with victories over Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy and Francis Carmont, “Jacare” is also looking to avenge a previous loss to Mousasi and solidify his spot as a title contender. A long-time dominant light heavyweight and former STRIKEFORCE champ, Mousasi (35-4-2, fighting out of Leiden, Holland, The Netherlands) has won five of his last six bouts and boasts career wins over Mark Munoz, Mark Hunt, Ovince Saint Preux, as well as a KO victory in the 2008 meeting against Souza. The winner of the bout could potentially set themselves up as the frontrunner in the wide open 185-pound division against current champ Chris Weidman.

In addition, a heavyweight slugfest will feature (No. 7) Alistair Overeem (37-13, 1NC, fighting out of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) colliding with Ben Rothwell (33-9, fighting out of Kenosha, Wis.). With an astonishing 64 finishes between the two giants, fans won’t want to blink, as this bout has “Fight of the Night” written all over it.

Also in the heavyweight division, former pro football defensive tackle Matt Mitrione (7-3, fighting out of Boca Raton, Fla.), who is coming off a “Performance of the Night” knockout victory over Shawn Jordan, will look to continue his winning ways when he meets surging contender Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (11-2, 1NC fighting out of Houston, Texas.) who is also fresh off of a first-round knockout victory.

Other bouts for UFC Fight Night include:

·         Local fan-favorite Joe Lauzon (23-10, fighting out of Bridgewater, Mass.) against The Ultimate Fighter: Live winner, Michael Chiesa (11-1, fighting out of Spokane Valley, Wash.) in the lightweight division.

• Providence, R.I’s own Sean Soriano (8-1, fighting out of Boca Raton, Fla.) vs. featherweight knockout artist Andre Fili (13-2, fighting out of Sacramento, Calif.).
• No. 9-ranked featherweight contender Nik Lentz (27-6-2, 1NC, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) vs. submission specialist and No. 14-ranked Charles Oliveira (18-4, 1NC, fighting out of Houston, Texas) in a highly-anticipated rematch.
• Devastating finisher and New England-based Rob Font (11-1, fighting out of North Reading, Mass.) vs. undefeated bantamweight Chris Beal (9-0, fighting out of Ventura, Calif.).
• Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Rafael Natal (17-6-1, fighting out of New York, N.Y.) vs. well-rounded middleweight Chris Camozzi (19-8, fighting out of Lakewood, Colo.).
• New York-based lightweight Al Iaquinta (8-3-1, fighting out of Garden City, N.Y.) vs. seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Rodrigo Damm (12-7, fighting out of Vila Velha, Espirito Santo Brazil).

Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT™: JACARE vs. MOUSASI go on sale Friday, July 25 at 10 a.m. ET and are priced at $350, $250 and $100. Tickets may be purchased online at www.foxwoods.com, by calling the Foxwoods’ Box Office at 800-200-2882, Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are available for purchase at. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC Fight Club^® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, July 23 at 10 a.m. ET via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, July 24 starting at 10 am. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT^™: JACARE vs. MOUSASI will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Friday, September 5, with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.