The UFC announced Tuesday that the main card for next weekend’s UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan will consist of seven fights — instead of the usual five — on a four-hour pay-per-view telecast.
The start time will not change, however; the broadcast will begin at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on Saturday, Feb. 25 in North America (locally Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Saitama Super Arena).
It is headlined by the lightweight title bout between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson, with Quinton (Rampage) Jackson and Ryan Bader in the co-main event. Rounding out the main card will be Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo, Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields, Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch, Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski and Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon.
Two hours of live preliminary fights will air on all Sportsnet regional channels starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
NOTES: All drug tests from competitors at last month’s UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro came back clean, the organization confirmed Wednesday. Brazil does not have an athletic sanctioning body, so the UFC took charge of the testing, hiring independent testers overseen by vice-president of government and regulatory affairs Marc Ratner. Both headliners Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes were tested along with six fighters picked at random but not disclosed …
UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com that the promotion might return to Rio this summer, rather than Sao Paulo as was previously expected. The UFC is planning to hold an event at a soccer stadium in June and is hoping to find a suitable one in Sao Paulo, but there have been logistical problems. But White said UFC 147, targeted for June 16 and expected to be headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen for the middleweight championship, will definitely be in one of those two cities.
