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After 13 intense weeks of serving as opposing coaches for The Ultimate Fighter® Season 7, Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest Griffin, the winner of the first-ever season of The Ultimate Fighter, will continue their competition in the Octagon™ in a battle for light heavyweight supremacy. The UFC presents UFC 86: JACKSON vs. GRIFFIN live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday, July 5.
UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin Tickets
UFC Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets Wednesday, April 9 at 10 a.m. via www.ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale also will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, April 11 at 10 a.m. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com. Both pre-sales will end Friday, April 11 at 5 p.m.
UFC 86: JACKSON vs. GRIFFIN will be available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer's Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).
"Rampage Jackson took the UFC by storm by defeating Chuck Liddell to become the UFC Light Heavyweight champion and then defeated PRIDE champion Dan Henderson to unify the belts. Forrest Griffin has come full circle; he started in the UFC as a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter and now he is a coach of the show," said Dana White, UFC president. "Both of these guys are doing great as coaches this season and now they will face off for the undisputed UFC World Light Heavyweight Championship."
The pride of Memphis, Tenn., Jackson (28-6) recently made mixed martial arts history by unifying the PRIDE and UFC belts and became the undisputed light heavyweight champion when he defeated PRIDE's 205-pound champion Henderson at UFC 75. Jackson, who is respected for his raw strength, power slams and equally impressive striking ability, marched into the UFC in February 2007 by taking out Marvin Eastman. He then captured the light heavyweight belt from Liddell three months later via first-round knockout. Rampage now looks to defend his status as the top light heavyweight on the planet by taking out Griffin, the 205-pound leading contender.
Jackson said, "I think this fight with Forrest will be a great fight, we both like to please the crowd and we both have the same agenda, we both want to win this fight. It's my job to stay the champion. I've come too far to back down now so I'm going to have to drag Forrest through the woods."
Griffin (15-4), fighting out of Las Vegas, is a well-rounded fighter whose aggressive style and warrior's heart propelled him to become the light heavyweight winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter in April 2005. He has since never backed down from a challenge facing the likes of Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar, Elvis Sinosic, Keith Jardine and Hector Ramirez. Most recently, Griffin earned the respect of fight fans everywhere when he submitted one of the mixed martial artists' best pound-for-pound fighters, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, in the third round at UFC 76.
Griffin now looks to cap off his rise in the UFC by defeating Jackson and becoming the new UFC light heavyweight champion. "I'm really excited to be fighting for the title. If I win, I get to walk out to the Octagon second for my future fights. I hate walking out first.
"I think I'm ready for this fight. I've been watching Rocky a lot; he's really good at taking a beating. Rampage always shows up ready for a fight and in his last fight he went 25 minutes with one of the toughest guys in the business so I know he will be ready too."
The remaining bouts for UFC 86: JACKSON vs. GRIFFIN will be announced in the near future. All bouts are subject to change.
UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin Tickets
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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