Live from General Motors Place – Vancouver, BC
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – On Saturday, June 12, at the sold-out General Motors Place in Vancouver, BC, Canada, legendary UFC® Hall of Famer Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell will step into the UFC Octagon™ against fellow superstar Rich “Ace” Franklin in a battle of former champions that headlines a stacked UFC 115 card destined to be one of the most memorable of 2010. In undercard bouts, the UFC announces the following matchups: Mirko “Cro Cop” vs. Pat Barry, Paulo Thiago vs. Martin Kampmann, Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel, Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald, Tyson Griffin vs. Evan Dunham, Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman, David Loiseau vs. Mario Miranda, James Wilks vs. Peter Sobotta, Ricardo Funch vs.. Claude Patrick and Mike Pyle vs. Jesse Lennox.
UFC 115 is available live on Pay-Per-View at 10pm ET/7pm PT on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).
Fighting legend Mirko Cro Cop (fighting out of Zagreb, Croatia/26-7-2, 1 NC) returns to the Octagon in hopes of adding Pat Barry (fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc./5-1 record) to his long list of highlight reel knockouts. With wins over Wanderlei Silva, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman, Cro Cop has faced and finished some of the biggest names in the sport. The dangerous Croatian kickboxer has won two out of his last three in the Octagon and faces a rising star in Pat Barry. The New Orleans native has won two out of three in the UFC and is coming off a big TKO win against Antoni Hardonk. Known for his willingness to stand and trade punches, Barry is an explosive athlete who also boasts ferocious leg kicks and will be gunning for the biggest victory of his young career.
Paulo Thiago (fighting out of Brasilia, Brazil/13-1 record) has taken the UFC’s welterweight division by storm, emerging from obscurity to defeat Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick and Jacob Volkmann. Now the heavy-handed Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt looks to continue his march toward the title when he faces UFC veteran Martin Kampmann (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./16-3). Winner of three of his past four inside of the Octagon, including a thrilling victory over highly-regarded Carlos Condit, Kampmann looks to get his 17th win as a professional.
Always gunning for a knockout from start to finish, and with 30 KOs in his 36 wins, Gilbert Yvel (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./36-14-1, 1 NC) gets his wish more often than not. On June 12, the Amsterdam-born slugger will once again be swinging for the fences against 6-foot-4, 265-pound Ben Rothwell (fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc./30-7). Vastly experienced with more than three dozen pro fights under his belt, “Big Ben” has finished 28 of his opponents and holds notable victories over Ricco Rodriguez and Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
After narrowly losing an action-packed bout to Martin Kampmann in his UFC debut, Carlos Condit (fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M./24-5) rebounded with a spirited win over Jake Ellenberger. Condit is a former world champion of the WEC® and most of his recent bouts have been strong candidates for Fight of the Night. After being sidelined with an injury, the 26-year-old is ready to return and make unbeaten Rory MacDonald (fighting out of Kelowna B.C. Canada/10-0) his 25th victim. The baby-faced MacDonald, who at the tender age of 20 is the youngest fighter currently in the UFC, has publicly stated his intentions to someday become “the greatest fighter to ever live.” The pride of Kelowna is already 1-0 in the UFC and beating Condit would be a huge step toward fulfilling his monumental goals.
Having waged many memorable wars inside of the Octagon, the biggest moment in the career of Tyson Griffin (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./14-2) came at UFC 103 when he knocked out former title challenger Hermes Franca in devastating fashion to cap a stellar 2009. The Fight of the Night master now turns his attention to teammate Evan Dunham (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./10-0), an extremely dangerous prospect who owns a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, high-caliber wrestling skills and has yet to lose as a pro.
Winner of the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter®, Mac Danzig (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./20-7-1) is coming off of a victory over Justin Buchholz and aims to do the same against Matt Wiman (fighting out of Dallas, TX/11-5). With wins over Buchholz, Thiago Tavares and Shane Nelson, Wiman is always down for a slugfest and will likely look to keep it standing against Danzig, who is quite crafty on the canvas.
Known as one of the best Canadian fighters in the world today, David Loiseau (fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada/19-9) is looking to start his journey back to the top of the middleweight division. In order for him to make his run at the title, Loiseau must start by defeating Mario Miranda (fighting out of Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/11-1). Known for his strong wrestling ability, Miranda showed that he was more than a one-dimensional fighter when he decided to stand and trade punches during his first UFC bout against Gerald Harris.
Winner of season nine of The Ultimate Fighter, James Wilks (fighting out of Laguna Hills, Calif./7-3) wants to prove to everyone that his success inside of The Ultimate Fighter house wasn’t some kind of fluke. Believing that he can compete with the fighters in the division, Wilks knows that his dream of becoming a champion starts with a victory over Peter Sobotta (fighting out of Geislingen, Germany/8-2). Known for having a large base of fans in Europe, Sobotta wants to give his fans an excellent performance when he fights in Canada for the first time.
Ricardo Funch (fighting out of Ludlow, MA/7-1) earned respect from many fans when he battled Johny Hendricks in his first outing inside the Octagon. Although he came up short on the scorecards, Funch believes that his luck will be different when he faces off against Canadian Claude Patrick (fighting out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada/11-1). Known for his submission abilities, Patrick will undoubtedly be going for Submission of the Night honors come fight time.
Known for wanting to fight the best possible opponent each time he enters the Octagon, Mike Pyle (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev./18-7-1) is a dangerous submission fighter that turned heads in the UFC when he submitted Chris Wilson last September. The Dresden, Tennessee native is almost certain to be in the middle of another exciting fight when he squares off against Jesse Lennox (fighting out of Bettendorf, IA/15-2). Having allowed only two of his 17 professional fights to end up in the hands of the judges, it’s safe to say that a highlight-reel finish will happen for one of these fighters before the 15-minute mark.
For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com, UK.UFC.com, GERMANY.UFC.com, UFCJapan.jp or UFCEspanol.com. All bouts live and subject to change.
Ultimate Fighting Championship® – www.ufc.com
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live arena events around the world. UFC programming is distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.’s Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.’s Versus network. UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U..S. and Canadastar in Canada. Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 130 countries, territories and jurisdictions, reaching 430 million homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over 5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling UFC “Undisputed” videogame franchise distributed by THQ, UFC Gym™, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo™ festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, articulated action figures and other media including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.
Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.