UFC® Partners With Las Vegas To Create First Annual International Fight Week

LAS VEGAS, June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority are proud to announce the first annual International Fight Week will take place around the hottest ticket of the summer - UFC 148 - from July 3 through July 7.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120619/LA27244)

International Fight Week will be the ultimate week-long experience for UFC fans. The inaugural week-long celebration of the UFC will feature the largest ever gathering of fighters and unprecedented access to UFC stars, the biggest UFC Fan Expo yet, open workouts with UFC 148 fighters, pool parties and pub crawls hosted by fighters and Octagon Girls, a concert and, of course, the week will cumulate with one of the biggest sporting events of the year: UFC 148: SILVA vs SONNEN II.

Some of the most memorable UFC events in history have taken place around 4th July weekend and a firm tradition was born in July 2009, when the milestone UFC 100 event brought over 60,000 fight fans from around the world to Vegas.

The UFC's ability to draw fans from not only all over the US but around the world to the company's hometown has not gone unnoticed by the LVCVA. Now, the UFC and LVCVA have partnered to make the July fight event not just a Las Vegas tradition, but a signature sporting occasion which will draw fans from all over the globe to the fight capital of the world. This will become an annual tradition for the UFC in Las Vegas.

"For years the UFC has done a big Vegas show around the Fourth of July weekend and now we've made it a focal point in our calendar," said UFC President Dana White. "For UFC 148, we've got fans coming in from all over the country, tons of people from Brazil and Canada and as far away as England, Japan and Australia to see this fight.

"Las Vegas is the UFC's hometown. This is where our headquarters are, this is where we are from and we're proud to be contributing to the local economy. The first annual International Fight Week will be awesome, the fans are going to have a fight week experience better than anything they've ever had before, and each year we are going to build this thing to the point where every fan on the planet knows they have to come to Vegas for this July fight week at least once in their lives."

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter added: "The UFC has evolved into a world-wide brand, generating interest from all over the globe. Las Vegas and UFC is a partnership of two great brands and International Fight Week will attract visitors from all over the world.  There's no better destination for a special event of this magnitude than Las Vegas."    

Some of the biggest properties in Las Vegas will be hosting UFC themed events during International Fight Week, including the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, the Palazzo, the Wynn, the Palms, the EA Sports Lounge at the Cosmopolitan, a Fremont Street experience at the D, Golden Nugget, Golden Gate and El Cortez plus much more.

The confirmed timetable thus far for International Fight Week is attached, and highlights include:

• Final UFC 148 press conference, free and open to public, at Lagasse Stadium at the Palazzo, Tuesday July 3
• Octagon Nation Truck, with fighter appearances and interactive features, will be at the world-famous Fremont Street from July 4 until fight night
• A free 4th July concert at Fremont Street featuring 3 Doors Down
• FUEL TV will be reporting live from Fremont Street on July 4 and 5
• UFC 148 Open Workouts at XS at Wynn
• Pool Parties at the Mandalay Bay and Palms
• July 5 Pub Crawl in downtown Las Vegas hosted by UFC fighters at the D, Golden Nugget, Golden Gate and El Cortez
• UFC Fan Expo, July 6 and 7, at Mandalay Bay
• Rock concert with special guests
• UFC 148 viewing parties throughout the town
• UFC 148 Official After-Party at Tryst Nightclub at Wynn

For more information visit http://www.visitlasvegas.com/ufc and http://www.ufc.com/fightweek

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 2011, 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 Canada and Sportsnet in an exciting new live format.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 149 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 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 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, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.

ABOUT THE LVCVA
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is charged with marketing Southern Nevada as a tourism and convention destination worldwide, and also with operating the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cashman Center.  With 151,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas alone and 10.6 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space citywide, the LVCVA's mission centers on attracting ever‑increasing numbers of leisure and business visitors to the area.  For more information, go to www.lvcva.com or www.VisitLasVegas.com.

SOURCE The Ultimate Fighting Championship