Live from the Nationwide Arena, Saturday March 7, 2009

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – For the third year in a row, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® is heading back to Columbus, Ohio. The UFC® announced today that the world’s premier fight organization will travel back to Columbus, Ohio for UFC 96, live from the Nationwide Arena on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

The UFC first arrived in Columbus for UFC 68 in March 2007 for one historic night as Randy Couture won the heavyweight crown for an unprecedented third time as he beat Tim Sylvia. The show’s gate, which surpassed $3 million, set a Nationwide Arena record; the 19,000 fans who saw the event live set a record for the highest North American attendance figure for a mixed martial arts event.

Last March, the UFC returned to Columbus as 15,300 people watched Anderson Silvasuccessfully defend his middleweight title against then PRIDE® champion Dan Henderson. The star-studded matchup grossed a gate of $2.2 million at Nationwide.

Full details on this fight card will be announced very shortly.

Tickets for UFC 96 will go on sale Saturday, December 27 at 10am ET and will be priced at $350, $250, $150, $100, $60 and $35. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations, and by telephone at 800-929-1111 or (614) 431-3600. Tickets also are available for purchase at ufc.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, December 24 at 10am PT via the website ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, December 26 starting at 10am PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through ufc.com.

UFC 96 will be available live on pay-per-view 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).

About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship® 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., UFC® produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually

that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN Entertainment, Bell ExpressVU, SaskTel Max™, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Viewers Choice, and WOWOW in Japan, and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.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.