MACHIDA AND ROMERO TO MEET IN SOUTH FLORIDA ON SATURDAY, JUNE 27

Las Vegas – Former UFC^® light heavyweight champion and current fifth-ranked middleweight contender Lyoto Machida makes a quick return to the Octagon^® to meet No. 6Yoel Romero in the main event of UFC FIGHT NIGHT^®: MACHIDA vs. ROMERO on Saturday, June 27 at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Machida (22-6, fighting out of Los Angeles, Calif. by way of Belem, Brazil), a black belt in both karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, has nine knockouts and two submission victories to his credit, and has defeated former champions Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Shogun Rua and Rashad Evans. One of the most unorthodox and dangerous strikers the sport has ever seen, “The Dragon” will be a step up in competition for Olympic silver medalist Romero (9-1, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla. by way of Pinar del Rio, Cuba). Coming off a third-round knockout victory over Tim Kennedy at UFC 178, Romero welcomes the former champ to his current hometown of Coconut Creek, with hopes that an impressive win will get him one step closer to a shot at the middleweight world title.

Also, in the co-main event, 11^th-ranked welterweight Rick Story (18-8, fighting out of Glendale, Ariz.) will meet one of the division’s brightest prospects in Erick Silva (18-5, 1 NC, fighting out of Vila Velha, Espirito Santo, Brazil). The 30-year-old “Horror” Story looks to make it three consecutive wins as he continues to climb the 170-pound ladder. Silva, who has 11 first-round finishes to his name, also hopes to string together a three-fight win streak for the first time in his UFC career.

In addition, the finals of The Ultimate Fighter^® Brazil will highlight the main card with new talent in both the bantamweight and lightweight divisions. The fourth installment of the Brazilian version of the show was coached by UFC legends Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

For the latest information on additional bouts for this event, please visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT^®: MACHIDA vs. ROMERO on sale Monday, May 18 at 10 a.m. ET and are priced at $229, $179, $129, $99 and $79. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets are also available at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino box office. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC Fight Club^® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Saturday, May 16 at 10 a.m. ET via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Sunday, May 17 starting at 9 a.m. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT^®: MACHIDA vs. ROMERO will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday, June 27, with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX Sports 2 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.