UFC COMING TO OHIO WITH A VENGEANCE

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UFC COMING TO OHIO WITH A VENGEANCE

UFC 68: THE UPRISING

TIM SYLVIA - RICH FRANKLIN - MATT HUGHES

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2007
LIVE FROM NATIONWIDE ARENA IN COLUMBUS

Tickets Go on Sale Tuesday, Jan. 9

Las Vegas – A star-studded lineup comes to Ohio featuring current UFC® Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia along with Rich “Ace” Franklin and Matt Hughes – two former UFC champions who are hot on the championship trail and loaded with a vengeance. The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization presents UFC 68: THE UPRISING live from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Saturday, March 3.

“We have been looking at holding a UFC in the Midwest for a long time, and the weekend of the Arnold Sports Festival presented the perfect opportunity for a UFC event,” said UFC President Dana White “We are excited to come to Nationwide Arena and give UFC fans in Ohio an amazing event featuring great fighters who helped make the UFC the hottest name in sports today.”

Jim Lorimer, Producer of the Arnold Sports Festival & Fitness Weekend commented, “The Arnold Sports Festival is pleased to welcome 18,000 devoted UFC fans to Nationwide Arena on Saturday, March 3 to coincide with our annual Weekend. The incredible momentum of the UFC will add tremendous energy and excitement to the city of Columbus and the Arnold Sports Festival.”

“We’re thrilled that UFC has chosen Nationwide Arena as the site of UFC 68: THE UPRISING, giving mixed martial arts fans in the Midwest a chance to be a part of a premier pay-per-view event,” said Eric Granger, general manager of Nationwide Arena.

Tickets for UFC 68: THE UPRISING go on sale Tuesday, Jan. 9 at $400, $300, $200, $100, $50 and are available at Nationwide Arena Ticket Office, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers, online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.ufc.com and by phone at (614) 431-3600. Tickets may also be purchased at the Blue Jackets Zones at the Chiller Dublin, Chiller Easton and Chiller North. All tickets are subject to facility fee and service charges.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Saturday, Jan. 6 at 10 am EST via the website www.ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Sunday, Jan. 7 starting at 10am EST. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com. There will be a special auction for Octagon-side floor seats available only through www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC 68: THE UPRISING is available live on pay-per-view in Standard or High-Definition (HD) where available at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada. The suggested retail price for Standard Definition is $39.95 ($39.99 CAD) and $49.95 for HD.

UFC 68: THE UPRISING features current Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, and former UFC Champions Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes.

Sylvia (25-2-0), fighting out of Davenport, Iowa, is the UFC Heavyweight Champion. He first stormed into the UFC defeating “Cabbage” Correira in his first fight and knocking out Ricco Rodriguez in his second fight to become the champion. Following his knock out of Gan McGee to defend the title, Sylvia relinquished his belt when the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended his license after he tested positive for an anabolic agent. He then fought Frank Mir for the vacant title at UFC 48 and suffered multiple breaks in his arm from a Mir armbar. After recovering, he returned at UFC 51 fighting Andrei Arlovski only to suffer another setback as he was forced to tap out in the first round due to an Achilles lock. At UFC 54 he returned to his winning ways with a devastating head kick knockout over Tra Telligman, followed by a unanimous decision victory over Assuerio Silva at Ultimate Fight Night™ (1/16/06). Sylvia faced UFC World Heavyweight Champion Arlovski again at UFC 59 and defeated him by a devastating first round knockout. He followed that up with another win, a decision over Arlovski at UFC 61 (7/8/06), and a unanimous decision over the devastating challenger Jeff Monson at UFC 65. Sylvia is ready to take on anyone the UFC puts in front of him and defend his belt a third time at UFC 68.

Fighting out of Cincinnati, Ohio, Rich Franklin (22-2-0) is an extremely well-rounded fighter possessing great striking and submission skills. He fought most of his career as a light heavyweight before moving to the middleweight division. At UFC 53, he knocked out UFC champion Evan Tanner to capture the middleweight crown. He made his first title defense against Nate Quarry at UFC 56 winning by first round KO and his second defense against Canadian David Loiseau at UFC 58, winning by decision after dominating “The Crow” through all five championship rounds. He faced Anderson Silva in his third UFC title defense, but was KOd by the Brazilian in the first round. Eager to get back into the Octagon, and in front of a home state crowd, Franklin is hot on the trail to taking back the middleweight crown.

Matt Hughes, with an incredible 42-5 record, was the longest reigning champion ever in the history of the UFC. He started fighting in 1999, at UFC 22, and spent two years climbing his way up the division. At UFC 34 (11/02/01) he won the UFC Welterweight Championship by defeating Carlos Newton by KO. From there, he won five consecutive fights, holding the title for three years before losing it to BJ Penn at UFC 46 (1/31/04), succumbing to a rear naked choke at 4:39 of the first round. He regained the vacant welterweight crown at UFC 50 (10/22/04) by stopping Georges St. Pierre with an arm bar at 4:59 of the first round, and defended his title at UFC 52 (4/16/06) against Frank Trigg, winning by a rear naked choke. He fought Joe Riggs at UFC 56 (11/19/05) in a non-championship bout and submitted him by Kimura at 3:28 of the first round, then followed that up with a third round TKO over BJ Penn at UFC 63. Hughes met St. Pierre again at UFC 65, this time losing to the Canadian contender by second round TKO. He is determined to get back in the Octagon and score the first step toward reclaiming his title and his reign in the UFC welterweight division.

More information about UFC 68: THE UPRISING will be announced in the near future. All bouts are subject to change.

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the UFC® organization produces approximately 10 live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution, UFC fight programs are distributed throughout the world including broadcast on WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, Globosat in Brazil and Bravo in the United Kingdom. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit www.ufc.com.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.