WEIDMAN HURT; HENDRICKS-LAWLER II NOW HEADLINES UFC 181

Las Vegas – The Ultimate Fighting Championship^® announced today that middleweight champion Chris Weidman has suffered a hand injury in training and has been forced out of his fight with Vitor Belfort on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. The fight will be rescheduled to a later date.

As a result, UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks will take on No. 1 contender Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC 181 on Dec. 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The fight will serve as a rematch to their hotly-contested title fight in March, a bout narrowly won by Hendricks.

UFC 181 will be co-headlined by the lightweight title bout between champion Anthony Pettis and top contender Gilbert Melendez.

Hendricks, Lawler, Pettis and Melendez will take part in a press conference this Friday at 2 p.m. at the MGM Grand’s Premier Ballroom. The press conference is free and open to the public.

Tickets for UFC^® 181: HENDRICKS vs. LAWLER II, presented by MetroPCS^®, go on sale Friday, September 26 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $1,000, $750, $550, $400, $250 and $125 (prices do not include applicable service charges). Tickets are available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000, and the Mandalay Bay Events Center box office. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.

UFC Fight Club^® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, September 24 at 10 a.m. PT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, September 25 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC^®181: HENDRICKS vs. LAWLER II will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel and Viewer’s Choice Canada 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, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.