Monday, Jul 21, 2003
Tickets Go On Sale Saturday, July 26, For Ufc 44: Undisputed;all-star Card Will Be Sept. 26 At Mandalay Bay In Las Vegas
From Zuffa/UFC: TICKETS GO ON SALE SATURDAY, JULY 26, FOR UFC 44: UNDISPUTED; ALL-STAR CARD WILL BE SEPT. 26 AT MANDALAY BAY IN LAS VEGAS Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture Will Determine Ultimate Fighting Championship’s True Light Heavyweight Champion LIVE On Pay-Per-View Heavyweight Champ Tim Sylvia To Defend His Title For First Time Against Gan McGee In ‘Battle of Giants’ In Co-Main Event LAS VEGAS, July 22, 2003…Live event tickets, $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35, for Ultimate Fighting Championship 44: Undisputed, which will feature the much anticipated return of Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz to the Octagon on Friday, September 26, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, will go on sale at 10 a.m. this Saturday, July 26, at the Mandalay Bay box office, at all Ticketmaster locations, at www.ticketmaster.com and www.mandalaybay.com. Tickets also may be ordered by telephone at 1-877-632-7800 or 1-702-474-4000. Ticket purchases are subject to transaction fees. The UFC is returning to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, the site of its first event in Nevada in September 2001. UFC 44: Undisputed also will be available LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EDT on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail price is $29.95. Ortiz (11-2-0 in mixed martial arts) from Huntington Beach, Calif., will meet newly crowned interim Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture (8-4-0) of Portland, Ore., for the undisputed title in the main event. UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia (17-0-0) of Davenport, Iowa, will defend his title for the first time against Gan McGee (12-1-0) of San Luis Obispo, Calif., in a "battle of giants" in the co-main event. The remainder of the nine-fight, all-star card will be announced. Fight fans have been anticipating another Ortiz title defense since his victory last November over mixed martial arts legend Ken Shamrock in Las Vegas. Due to motion picture theatrical commitments, Ortiz could not fight for nine months. On June 6 in Las Vegas, Couture met number one contender Chuck Liddell for the interim light heavyweight championship, which Couture claimed with an upset technical knockout in the third round. Couture, a former two-time UFC heavyweight champ, made history by becoming the only fighter to win UFC championships in two different weight divisions. But the victory over Liddell set the stage for a showdown with Ortiz and Couture now wants to unify the title. Ortiz doesn’t care much for Couture’s intrusion into his title territory. "I don’t think Randy is entitled to any kind of championship, much less an interim title, and I’m ready to prove who the real light heavyweight champion is," Tito said. Couture says he doesn’t care what Tito thinks. "I fought, and beat, the long-time number one contender, Chuck Liddell, when he wouldn’t fight him. I know the fans see me as the true light heavyweight champion. If Tito disagrees, he’s going to have to prove it," Couture counters. Meanwhile Sylvia, "The Maine-iac," a native of Ellsworth, Maine, who trains with one of the top MMA teams in the country, Miletich Fighting Systems, has been chomping at the bit to defend the heavyweight crown he won February 28 at UFC 41: Onslaught with a first-round, upset knockout of Ricco Rodriguez in Atlantic City, N.J. Although Sylvia is 6’8", 260 pounds, he will not enjoy a size advantage. McGee, "The Giant," is 6’10", 265, and the bout will be a collision of two of the biggest men ever to compete for a UFC championship. McGee also won a first-round KO victory in his last UFC fight February 28 over Brazilian jiu jitsu champion Alexander "Caf posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
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