HISTORY WILL BE MADE AT UFC 157 IN ANAHEIM ON FEBRUARY 23

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Las Vegas, Nevada – History will be made on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., as the Ultimate Fighting Championship® will present its first women’s bout featuring UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defending her title against top contender Liz Carmouche.

Rousey, a former Olympian and native of Southern California, is unbeaten in her pro career at 6-0, with all of her wins coming by way of submission. In her first UFC title defense she’ll meet Carmouche, a 28-year-old U.S. Marine from San Diego who has built a reputation for her power and grit.

“Ronda is the real deal,” UFC President Dana White said. “She’s nasty. She’s mean. She’s like Chuck Liddell. She goes out there and tries to finish her opponents. And Carmouche is tough as nails, too. She was a Marine and she’s got great ground-and-pound. I look forward to having the women join the UFC.”

In addition to Rousey-Carmouche, former world champions Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida will collide with the winner likely to earn a light heavyweight title shot. Henderson, a former PRIDE® and Strikeforce® champion, last defeated Maurico Rua in what many consider to the best fight of 2011. Meanwhile, former UFC light heavyweight champion Machida knocked out Ryan Bader in August and now has his sights set on a battle with “Hendo.”

Also on the card is an exciting bantamweight contest between former WEC champion “The California Kid” Urijah Faber and Ivan Menjivar. The two fought in 2006, with Faber scoring a disqualification victory. Now the two meet again with a chance to propel themselves into title contention at 135 pounds.

Tickets for UFC®157: ROUSEY vs. CARMOUCHE go on sale Friday, Dec. 21 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $350, $250, $150, $100, $75 and $50. Fans can purchase tickets at www.ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster retail locations and by phone at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will be available at the Honda Center Box Office beginning Saturday, December 22. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, Dec. 19 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, Dec. 20, starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this pre-sale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC®157: ROUSEY vs. CARMOUCHE 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.

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

About the 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 (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. In 2012, 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 also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now airs on FX.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries and territories, to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide, in 30 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. 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 over two million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, the best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise distributed by THQ, and a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.