For the third year in a row, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is heading back to Columbus, Ohio. The UFC announced earlier this week that the world’s premier fight organization will travel back to Columbus, Ohio for UFC 96, live from the Nationwide Arena on Saturday, March 7, 2009.
The UFC first arrived in Columbus for UFC 68 in March 2007 for one historic night as Randy Couture won the heavyweight crown for an unprecedented third time as he beat Tim Sylvia. The show’s gate, which surpassed $3 million, set a Nationwide Arena record; the 19,000 fans who saw the event live set a record for the highest North American attendance figure for a mixed martial arts event.
Last March, the UFC returned to Columbus as 15,300 people watched Anderson Silva successfully defend his middleweight title against then PRIDE champion Dan Henderson. The star-studded matchup grossed a gate of $2.2 million at Nationwide.
Full details on this fight card will be announced very shortly.