UFC RETURNS TO DALLAS ON MARCH 14 WITH TWO TITLE FIGHTS
Jan 22, 2015 Comments
(PRESS RELEASE) -- Las Vegas, Nevada – Two world titles are on the
line when the UFC® returns to the American Airlines Center in
Dallas on Saturday, March 14 as lightweight champion Anthony
Pettis defends his title for the second time when he meets No.
1 contender Rafael dos
Anjos and newly-crowned women’s strawweight champion Carla
Esparza makes her first title defense against top contender
Joanna
Jedrzejczyk. The last UFC event in Dallas in 2014 saw Johny
Hendricks defeat Robbie
Lawler to claim the UFC welterweight title in front of a sold
out crowd.
In his first title defense at UFC 181, Pettis (18-2, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wis.) submitted Gilbert Melendez to retain his title, capping off a stellar year that saw him sign with Reebok and become the first UFC athlete to ever grace the cover of the iconic Wheaties box. Known for his flashy fight style that’s seen him finish his last four opponents, Pettis is looking to further establish himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Riding a three-fight win streak that includes victories over
Nate
Diaz and former champ Benson
Henderson, dos Anjos (23-7, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil) hopes to become only the third man to ever defeat Pettis. A
17-fight veteran of the Octagon®, dos Anjos can add his name to the
record books by becoming the first Brazilian UFC lightweight
champion.
The co-main event will feature Esparza (11-2, fighting out of Irvine, Calif.) in her first title defense since becoming the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion by defeating Rose Namajunas last month. Esparza will look to use her high-level wrestling to combat the striking prowess of undefeated No. 1 contender Jedrzejczyk (8-0, fighting out of Olsztyn, Poland). A five-time Muay Thai world champion, Jedrzejczyk has never lost in the Octagon, compiling victories over 12th-ranked Juliana Lima and 2nd-ranked Claudia Gadelha to earn the shot at Esparza.
Also, ninth-ranked heavyweight Roy Nelson (21-10, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) will collide with No. 11 Alistair Overeem (38-14, 1 NC, fighting out of Amsterdam, The Netherlands). The two fan favorites have no shortage of finishing power, as they’ve combined for 53 total finishes – 29 knockouts and 24 submissions. With the division wide open, these heavy hitters hope to take one step closer to a UFC title shot.
Other bouts for UFC 185 include:
· The Ultimate Fighter season 9 winner Ross Pearson (18-8, 1 NC, fighting out of San Diego, Calif. by way of Sunderland, England) and Sam Stout (21-10-1, fighting out of London, Ontario, Canada) meet in a battle of lightweight strikers.
· Brother of main eventer Anthony Pettis, Sergio Pettis (12-1, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc.) moves to the flyweight division to take on Dallas’ own Ryan Benoit (7-3, fighting out of Dallas, Texas).
· Former title challenger and ninth-ranked Chris Cariaso (17-6, fighting out of Tucson, Ariz.) collides with Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo (7-0, fighting out of Phoenix, Ariz.) in a flyweight bout.
· The Ultimate Fighter: Nations winner Elias Theodorou (10-0, fighting out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada) takes on Texas’ Roger Narvaez (7-1, fighting out of Corpus Christi, Texas) in a middleweight matchup.
Tickets for UFC® 185: PETTIS vs. DOS ANJOS go on sale Friday, January 23 at 10 a.m. CT and are priced at $300, $225, $150, $100, $75 and $50 (prices do not include applicable service charges). Tickets are available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000 and will be available at the American Airlines Center box office. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.
Get your VIP package today! The UFC VIP Experience packages together your tickets with behind-the-scenes access to the official weigh-ins, backstage tours, meet and greet and autograph signings with top UFC stars, Q&A sessions, and photo opportunities, access to an in-arena VIP party room, a chance to hold the championship belt inside the Octagon® and more!
UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, January 21 at 10 a.m. CT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, January 22 at 10 a.m. CT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.
UFC®185: PETTIS vs. DOS ANJOS 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 $49.99 US/CAN for Standard Definition and $59.99 US/CAN for High -Definition.
About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in 129 countries and territories to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT® (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, UFC branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.
American Airlines Center
Designed by architectural wizard David M. Schwarz and Dallas based HKS, Inc., American Airlines Center is considered one of the nation's top arenas. Since opening its doors in 2001 American Airlines Center has been setting the precedent for sporting and live entertainment events. Bringing in a wide variety of big name shows as well as being home of both the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, the American Airlines Center consistently displays its unique versatility. In 2014, Venue's Today Magazine named American Airlines Center the 4th busiest arena in the U.S. and the 10th busiest in the world.
In his first title defense at UFC 181, Pettis (18-2, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wis.) submitted Gilbert Melendez to retain his title, capping off a stellar year that saw him sign with Reebok and become the first UFC athlete to ever grace the cover of the iconic Wheaties box. Known for his flashy fight style that’s seen him finish his last four opponents, Pettis is looking to further establish himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Advertisement
The co-main event will feature Esparza (11-2, fighting out of Irvine, Calif.) in her first title defense since becoming the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion by defeating Rose Namajunas last month. Esparza will look to use her high-level wrestling to combat the striking prowess of undefeated No. 1 contender Jedrzejczyk (8-0, fighting out of Olsztyn, Poland). A five-time Muay Thai world champion, Jedrzejczyk has never lost in the Octagon, compiling victories over 12th-ranked Juliana Lima and 2nd-ranked Claudia Gadelha to earn the shot at Esparza.
In addition, former UFC welterweight champion and Dallas resident
Johny
Hendricks (16-3, fighting out of Dallas, Texas) will meet
sixth-ranked contender Matt Brown
(21-12, fighting out of Columbus, Ohio) in an exciting bout
guaranteed to produce fireworks. Both men were involved in Fight of
the Year candidates with current champion Robbie
Lawler in 2014 and are hoping to secure another crack at the
champ with an impressive win in Texas.
Also, ninth-ranked heavyweight Roy Nelson (21-10, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) will collide with No. 11 Alistair Overeem (38-14, 1 NC, fighting out of Amsterdam, The Netherlands). The two fan favorites have no shortage of finishing power, as they’ve combined for 53 total finishes – 29 knockouts and 24 submissions. With the division wide open, these heavy hitters hope to take one step closer to a UFC title shot.
Other bouts for UFC 185 include:
· The Ultimate Fighter season 9 winner Ross Pearson (18-8, 1 NC, fighting out of San Diego, Calif. by way of Sunderland, England) and Sam Stout (21-10-1, fighting out of London, Ontario, Canada) meet in a battle of lightweight strikers.
· Brother of main eventer Anthony Pettis, Sergio Pettis (12-1, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc.) moves to the flyweight division to take on Dallas’ own Ryan Benoit (7-3, fighting out of Dallas, Texas).
· Former title challenger and ninth-ranked Chris Cariaso (17-6, fighting out of Tucson, Ariz.) collides with Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo (7-0, fighting out of Phoenix, Ariz.) in a flyweight bout.
· The Ultimate Fighter: Nations winner Elias Theodorou (10-0, fighting out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada) takes on Texas’ Roger Narvaez (7-1, fighting out of Corpus Christi, Texas) in a middleweight matchup.
Tickets for UFC® 185: PETTIS vs. DOS ANJOS go on sale Friday, January 23 at 10 a.m. CT and are priced at $300, $225, $150, $100, $75 and $50 (prices do not include applicable service charges). Tickets are available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000 and will be available at the American Airlines Center box office. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.
Get your VIP package today! The UFC VIP Experience packages together your tickets with behind-the-scenes access to the official weigh-ins, backstage tours, meet and greet and autograph signings with top UFC stars, Q&A sessions, and photo opportunities, access to an in-arena VIP party room, a chance to hold the championship belt inside the Octagon® and more!
UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, January 21 at 10 a.m. CT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, January 22 at 10 a.m. CT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.
UFC®185: PETTIS vs. DOS ANJOS 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 $49.99 US/CAN for Standard Definition and $59.99 US/CAN for High -Definition.
About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in 129 countries and territories to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT® (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, UFC branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.
American Airlines Center
Designed by architectural wizard David M. Schwarz and Dallas based HKS, Inc., American Airlines Center is considered one of the nation's top arenas. Since opening its doors in 2001 American Airlines Center has been setting the precedent for sporting and live entertainment events. Bringing in a wide variety of big name shows as well as being home of both the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, the American Airlines Center consistently displays its unique versatility. In 2014, Venue's Today Magazine named American Airlines Center the 4th busiest arena in the U.S. and the 10th busiest in the world.
Related Articles
