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| Chad Mendes headlines UFC Fight Night at the Patriot Center |
From our friends at Monumental Network...
UFC Returns to Fairfax, Saturday, April 4 at the Patriot Center
Explosive featherweights Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas headline in five-round main event
The UFC returns to Fairfax, Va. on Saturday, April 4, as the featherweight division’s No. 1 contender Chad Mendes goes to head-to-head with fourth-ranked Ricardo Lamas in the five-round main event at the Patriot Center. Having both gone the distance in title bouts against champion José Aldo, these battle-tested 145ers will light up the Octagon when UFC FIGHT NIGHT takes center stage in the Greater Washington area.
Mendes (16-2, fighting out of Sacramento, Calif.), one of the heaviest hitters in the featherweight division, has been taking out top contenders in dominant fashion with wins over Darren Elkins, Clay Guida, Nik Lentz and Cub Swanson. His back-and-forth battle with Aldo at UFC 179 went down as one of the greatest fights in 2014. Lamas (15-3, fighting out of Chicago, Ill.) boasts an equally impressive resume that includes wins over Dennis Bermudez, Erik Koch and Swanson. With combined wins over the who’s who in the 145-pound weight class, Mendes and Lamas eye each other as their ticket to earning another shot at the title.
The co-main event will feature a staple in the lightweight division as (No. 13) Jorge Masvidal (28-6, fighting out of Miami) takes on rising contender (No. 15) Al Iaquinta (11-3-1, fighting out of Wantagh, N.Y.), a winner of three straight. Plus, The Ultimate Fighter season 15 winner Michael Chiesa (11-2, fighting out of Spokane Valley, Wash.) takes on Canadian-born Mitch Clarke (11-2, fighting out of Glendale, Ariz.).
In addition, former top featherweight contender Dustin Poirier (16-4, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) will test the 155-pound waters when he makes his UFC lightweight debut against Diego Ferreira (10-1, fighting out of Pharr, Texas). Also, in a crucial women’s bantamweight bout, former title contender and women’s MMA pioneer (No. 8) Liz Carmouche (8-5, fighting out of San Diego, Calif.) makes her fifth UFC appearance against rising star Lauren Murphy (8-1, fighting out of Glendale, Ariz.).
Additional bouts include:
• (No. 11) Julianna Pena (6-2, fighting out of Spokane, Wash.), the first female season winner to emerge from The Ultimate Fighter, returns after a 17-month layoff to take on rising women’s bantamweight Milana Dudieva (11-3, fighting out of Alagir, Russia).
• Former STRIKEFORCE lightweight champion and fan-favorite (No. 11) Clay Guida (31-12, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.) takes on Robbie Peralta (18-5, 1NC, fighting out of Escondido, Calif.) in a featherweight bout.
• Former lightweight title contender Gray Maynard (12-5-1, 1NC, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) meets MMA veteran Alexander Yakovlev (21-6-1, fighting out of Fairfield, N.J.).
• Ron Stallings (12-7, 1NC, fighting out of Camp Spring, Md.) will make his second Octagon appearance when he meets middleweight Justin Jones (3-1, fighting out of San Diego, Calif.).
• The Ultimate Fighter season 17 alumnus Clint Hester (11-4, fighting out of Atlanta, Ga.) squares off against fellow season cast mate Luke Barnatt (8-2, fighting out of Cambridge, England).
• Plus, heavyweights Shamil Abdurahimov (15-2, fighting out of Makhachkala, Russia) and Timothy Johnson (8-1, fighting out of Fargo, N.D.) meet in their UFC debuts.
Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MENDES vs. LAMAS go on sale Friday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. ET and are priced at $179, $129, $94, $74 and $54 (plus applicable service charges). Tickets are available for purchase at all Ticketmaster outlets including the Patriot Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com or via Phonecharge at (800) 745-3000. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.
UFC Fight Club members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, Feb. 11 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, Feb. 12 starting at 10 a.m. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MENDES vs. LAMAS will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Saturday, April 4, with the prelims kicking-off the evening on FOX Sports 1 at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT and on UFC FIGHT PASS at 11 a.m. ET and 8 a.m. PT.
About 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 video game 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.
