ANNOUNCING UFC® 86: JACKSON vs. GRIFFIN

UFC® WORLD LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
RAMPAGE JACKSON vs. FORREST GRIFFIN

SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2008
LIVE FROM MANDALAY BAY EVENTS CENTER

Tickets Go On Sale Saturday, April 12, 2008

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – After thirteen intense weeks of serving as opposing coaches for The Ultimate Fighter® Season 7, UFC® Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and the winner of the first-ever season of The Ultimate Fighter , Forrest Griffin, will continue their competition in the Octagon™ this summer in a battle for light heavyweight supremacy. The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization presents UFC 86: JACKSON vs. GRIFFIN live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday, July 5, 2008.

"Forrest Griffin has come full circle; he started in the UFC as a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter and now he is a coach of the show. Rampage Jackson took the UFC by storm by defeating Chuck Liddell to become the UFC Light Heavyweight champion and then defeating Pride champion Dan Henderson to unify the belts," said Dana White, UFC President. "Both of these guys did great as coaches this season, and now they will face off for the undisputed UFC World Light Heavyweight Championship."

Tickets for UFC 86: JACKSON vs. GRIFFIN will go on sale Saturday, April 12 at 10 a.m. PST and will be priced at $800, $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50. Tickets will be sold at any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s West at the Fashion Show Mall and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.ufc.com, www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, April 9 at 10am PT via the website www.ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, April 11 starting at 10am PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com.

UFC 86: JACKSON vs. GRIFFIN is available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).

The pride of Memphis, Tennessee, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (28-6) recently made mixed martial arts history by unifying the PRIDE® and UFC belts and becoming the undisputed light heavyweight champion when he defeated PRIDE 205-pound champion Dan Henderson at UFC 75. Jackson, who is respected for his raw strength, power slams and equally impressive striking ability, marched into the UFC in February of 2007 by taking out Marvin Eastman, and then capturing the light heavyweight belt from Chuck Liddell three months later via first round knockout. Now Rampage looks to defend his status as the top light heavyweight on the planet by taking out top 205-pound contender Forrest Griffin at UFC 86.

"I think this fight with Forrest will be a great fight, we both like to please the crowd and we both have the same agenda, we both want to win this fight," said Jackson. "It's my job to stay the champion - I've come too far to back down now, so I'm going to have to drag Forrest through the woods."

Griffin (15-4), fighting out of Las Vegas, is a well rounded fighter whose aggressive style and warrior’s heart propelled him to become the light heavyweight winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter in April 2005. Since then, he has never backed down from a challenge, facing the likes of Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar, Elvis Sinosic, Keith Jardine and Hector Ramirez. Most recently, Griffin earned the respect of fight fans everywhere when he submitted one of MMA’s best, pound for pound, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, in the third round at UFC 76. Now Griffin looks to cap off his rise in the UFC by defeating Rampage Jackson and becoming the new UFC light heavyweight champion.

"I'm really excited to be fighting for the title - if I win, I get to walk out to the Octagon second - I hate walking out first," said Griffin. "I think I'm ready for this fight, I've been watching Rocky a lot - he's really good at taking a beating. And Rampage always shows up ready for a fight, in his last fight he went 25 minutes with one of the toughest guys in the business, so I know he will be ready, too."

The remaining bouts for UFC 86 will be announced in the near future. All bouts are live and subject to change.