Rich “Ace” Franklin Returns To The Octagon To Face Anderson “The Spider” Silva

26.09.06 – Las Vegas, NV – After a seven-month absence, UFC® World Middleweight Champion Rich “Ace” Franklin returns to the Octagon™ to make his third title defense against the seemingly unstoppable UFC newcomer Anderson “The Spider” Silva. With a history of vicious striking and devastating knockout power, Silva has quickly become the most dangerous contender in the UFC middleweight division. Franklin, who remains undefeated in the UFC, will put his belt up for stakes when he squares off against Silva in the main event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization’s UFC 64: UNSTOPPABLE taking place live from Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday, Oct. 14.

Also announced today will be the return of the lightweight crown to the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization. Kenny “KenFlo” Florian and Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk will face off at UFC 64 to battle for the vacant lightweight crown, which has been held only by former champion Jens Pulver. As demonstrated by recent pay-per-view events, the UFC has a number of talented lightweights competing in this division, including the return of Jens Pulver as well as Spencer Fisher, Melvin Guillard, Mark Hominick, Joe Stevenson and Yves Edwards.

Tickets for UFC 64: UNSTOPPABLE, not including applicable services or taxes are on sale Sunday, August 27 at $450, $350, $200, $100 and $50 starting at 10am PT. Tickets will be sold at any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Tower Records/WOW!, Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Robinsons-May stores 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 64: UNSTOPPABLE is available live on pay-per-view at 10pm ET/7pm PT on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95 ($39.99 Canada).

Rich Franklin (23-1-0) 6’1”/185 lbs., fighting out of Cincinnati, Ohio, is an extremely well-rounded fighter possessing great striking and submission skills. He fought most of his career as a light heavyweight before moving to the middleweight division. At UFC 53, he knocked out UFC champion Evan Tanner to capture the middleweight crown. He made his first title defense against Nate Quarry at UFC 56 winning by first round KO and his second defense against Canadian David Loiseau at UFC 58, winning by decision after dominating “The Crow” through all five championship rounds. Franklin will be facing his toughest opponent yet when he takes on Anderson Silva for his third UFC title defense, but has no plans to let the Brazilian claim his crown.

Anderson Silva (16-4) 5’11”/185 lbs., fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil, is a well rounded fighter with phenomenal striking skills. A recognized fighter in the world of mixed martial arts, Silva made his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night™, scoring an impressive first round knockout over TUF1 fighter Chris “The Crippler” Leben. Through the years, Silva has held numerous titles in mixed martial arts and is now looking to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion.

Kenny Florian (7-2) 5’10”/155 lbs., fighting out of Boston, Mass., is a jiu-jitsu specialist with dangerous elbows. Florian recently defeated Sam Stout at The Ultimate Fighter® 3 Finale, and also has wins over Muay Thai Champion Kit Cope and TUF 1 fighter Alex Karalexis. Florian dropped from welterweight to lightweight to fight Stout and is now ready to battle Sean Sherk for the UFC World Lightweight crown.

Sean Sherk (34-2-1) 5’6”/170 lbs., fighting out of Oak Grove, Minn., holds an incredible record, with only one two losses. The first came to Matt Hughes for the UFC World Welterweight title. Sherk went on to win 12 straight fights before losing by TKO in the second round to Georges St. Pierre. Sherk is an excellent wrestler and is one of the pound-for-pound strongest competitors in the sport. He recently defeated Nick Diaz at UFC 59 and now is ready to take on Florian and become the new UFC World Lightweight Champion.

The remaining bouts for UFC 64: UNSTOPPABLE will be announced in the near future.

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the UFC® organization produces approximately eight live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution, UFC fight programs are distributed throughout the world including broadcast on WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, Globosat in Brazil and Bravo in the United Kingdom. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit www.ufc.com.

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, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.