UFC® LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION JON JONES FACES ALEXANDER GUSTAFSSON AT UFC® 165 IN TORONTO ON SEPTEMBER 21

Toronto, Canada – UFC^® light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones returns to Air Canada Centre^® in Toronto on Saturday, September 21 to defend his title against Swedish contender Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson. The Ultimate Fighting Championship^® announced today that tickets for this five-round championship bout will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, July 11 at 10 a.m. EST.

At just 25 years old, Jones is one the most dominant fighters in UFC light heavyweight history. His 12 wins are 2^nd most in the division’s history while his five consecutive title defenses tie him with UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz’s light heavyweight record.

Gustafsson, 26, enters the bout with a near spotless record, having won six straight while holding a 15-1 all-time record (7-1 in the UFC). Injury forced him off an April card in his native Sweden however his previous bout saw him earn a unanimous decision over former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua in December 2012.

“Jon Jones is re-writing the record book for the light heavyweight division,” UFC President Dana White said. “He is one of the pound-for-pound best in the world with a record-tying five straight title defenses by age 25. This bout with Gustafsson is an awesome fight. Alex is a big man plus he’s mean and hungry – and excited for the opportunity to fight Jones.”

In addition to the Jones-Gustafsson showdown, Toronto will also see another UFC belt on the line as interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao (32-1, 1 NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) will look for his second straight title defense against No.4 ranked contender Eddie Wineland (20-8-1, fighting out of Chesterton, Indiana). The pair were to meet at UFC 161 in June but injury forced Barao off the card as he now brings his impressive unbeaten streak (30 victories, 1 no-contest) against the former WEC bantamweight champion.

Other bouts for UFC 165 include two heavyweights making their Octagon^® debut and four Canadians in action:

?         Heavyweights Daniel Omielanczuk (15-3-1, 1 NC, fighting out of Warsaw, Poland) vs. Nandor Guelmino(11-4-1, fighting out of Vienna, Austria)

?         Welterweights Stephen Thompson (7-1, fighting out of Simpsonville, South Carolina) vs. London, Ontario’sChris Clements (11-4-0, 1 NC)

?         Brazilian lightweight Michel Prazeres (16-1) vs. Woodbridge, Ontario’s Mark Bocek (11-5)

?         Lightweight Myles Jury(12-0, fighting out of San Diego, California) vs. Montreal’s Mike Ricci (9-3)

?         Japan’s Norifumi Yamamoto (18-6, 1 NC) vs. Montreal’s Ivan Menjivar (25-10) in a bantamweight contest

Tickets for UFC^® 165: JONES vs. GUSTAFSSON go on sale Thursday, July 11 at 10 a.m. EST and are priced at $450, $300, $200, $150, $95 and $75. Tickets will be available at the Air Canada Centre^® box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 1-855-985-5000 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC Fight Club^® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Tuesday, July 9 at 10 a.m. EST via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Wednesday, July 10, starting at 10 a.m. EST. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC 165, presented by Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag…In stores October 29^th, will be available live on Pay-Per-View on September 21 at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on UFC.TV^®, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on Shaw Communications, Bell TV, Sasktel, Viewer’s Choice Canada and Indigo (French) for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com.  All bouts live and subject to change.