UFC official for Abu Dhabi; Penn and Silva to defend their titles

Abu Dhabi, UAE – The world’s greatest indoor sporting event goes outdoors on April 10 as the Ultimate Fighting Championship® organisation lands in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the first time.

Some of the world’s greatest mixed martial artists will appear on the historic open-air UFC 112 event at the Concert Arena, Ferrari World, Yas Island.

Topped by a double main event, two UFC world titles will be on the line at UFC 112. First, UFC lightweight champion BJ ‘The Prodigy’ Penn puts his belt on the line against No.1 contender Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar and then UFC middleweight king Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva defends his crown against fellow Brazilian striker Vitor ‘The Phenom’ Belfort.

As well as two fascinating UFC title clashes, the UFC’s first venture into the region will also showcase an intriguing battle of legends as UFC icon Matt Hughes locks horns with MMA pioneer and Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Renzo Gracie at welterweight.

UFC President Dana White said: This is one of the biggest and most significant nights in the history of the UFC. UFC 112 is our first ever outdoor event and it is taking place in the hometown of our brand new partners, Flash Entertainment. We are very happy we could deliver what fans around the world will recognise as a stacked card featuring the sport’s biggest stars.

Anderson Silva is back in the Octagon(TM), and back at 185lbs to defend his belt against maybe the one guy he may want to take the fight to the ground with. Vitor Belfort has recaptured the form which saw him rip through heavyweights and light heavyweights a decade ago, and Silva vs Belfort is one of those fights where, if there was a roof for this event, it would come off just before the start of the first round.

BJ Penn is another UFC champion who is looking unstoppable right now, but Frankie Edgar is improving so quickly and has such an attacking style that he may be the guy to end BJ’s reign.

Plus, Matt Hughes vs Renzo Gracie is a clash between two legends who each have a lot on the line in this fight. The winner adds another great name to his list of victims and gets right into the title hunt.

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