TWO TITLE FIGHTS HEADLINE UFC 189

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Las Vegas – In one of the most anticipated matchups in UFC® history, reigning featherweight champion Jose Aldo goes head-to-head with Irish superstar Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC® 189, Saturday, July 11 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Plus, newly crowned welterweight champion Robbie Lawler makes his first title defense against No. 2 Rory MacDonald in the co-main event. The two world title fights will be the signature events of UFC’s International Fight Week™, which kicks off July 7 in Las Vegas, the home of the UFC.

Aldo (25-1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), second in the pound-for-pound rankings, looks to continue his historic reign and remain the only featherweight champion in UFC history. He will attempt an eighth straight successful title defense against polarizing Irish sensation McGregor (17-2, fighting out of Dublin, Ireland), a winner of 13 straight. After several heated exchanges through the press and social media, these adversaries will finally meet in the five-round main event. The talking ends July 11.

Plus, UFC welterweight champion Lawler (25-10, 1NC, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) will make his first title defense in a rematch against a young and hungry MacDonald (18-2, fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada). Lawler handed MacDonald his only loss in the last five years at UFC 167 in November 2013, and then went on to defeat top-ranked contenders Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown before taking the 170-pound title from Johny Hendricks by decision. MacDonald has rattled off three straight wins over Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley and Tarec Saffiedine to secure his title shot and rematch with the champ.

Additional bouts will be announced soon.

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

Tickets for UFC® 189: ALDO vs. McGREGOR , presented by Bud Light, go on sale Friday, March 27 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $1,000, $750, $500, $350, $225 and $125 (prices do not include applicable service charges). Tickets are available for purchase online at ticketmaster.com and mgmgrand.com and UFCFightWeek.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will also be available in person at any MGM Resorts International box office. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.

UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets Wednesday, March 25 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, March 26 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

Get your VIP package today! The UFC VIP Experience packages together your tickets with behind-the-scenes access to the official weigh-ins, backstage tours, meet and greet and autograph signings with top UFC stars, Q&A sessions, and photo opportunities, access to an in-arena VIP party room, a chance to hold the championship belt inside the Octagon® and more!

UFC® 189: ALDO vs. McGREGOR, presented by Bud Light, 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 $49.99 US/CAN for Standard Definition and $59.99 US/CAN for High -Definition.

About UFC®

UFC® is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in 129 countries and territories to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS®, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT® (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, UFC branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

About the MGM Grand Garden Arena

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Strait, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, U2, Lady Gaga, Sting, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also is home to the annual Academy of Country Music Awards, annual Billboard Music Awards, annual iHeartRadio Music Festival and the Frozen Fury NHL pre-season game which features the Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche.