Tito Ortiz To Fight Vitor Belfort In Main Event Of UFC® 51: Super Saturday, On Feb. 5

February 5, 2005

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino

Las Vegas Nevada

Tickets Go On Sale at 10 a.m., Friday, Nov. 19, For 8-Fight,

All-Star Card at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas

Las Vegas -- In a fight many Ultimate Fighting Championship® fans have waited more than three years to

see, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz will step into the Octagon Feb. 5, 2005 at the Mandalay

Bay Resort & Casino Events Center to fight Brazilian star Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort in the main event of

UFC® 51: Super Saturday.

Tickets for the all-star fight card go on sale at 10 a.m. (PST) Friday, Nov. 19, at the Mandalay Bay Box

Office (877-632-7400) in Las Vegas, at all Ticketmaster locations, and on the internet at

www.ticketmaster.com and www.mandalaybay.com.

Tickets for this event are priced at $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35. To order tickets by telephone call 877-

880-0880 or 702-891-7777. Ticket purchases are subject to transaction fees. UFC® 51: Super Saturday will

be available LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Bell

ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail price is $29.95.

Ortiz (12-4-0 in mixed martial arts) from Huntington Beach, Ca., is determined to defeat Belfort (12-4-0) from

Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a bout that should have taken place more than three years ago – on Sept. 28, 2001 at

the same venue, the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Ortiz-Belfort was set to be the main event of UFC 33: Victory in Vegas, but had to be canceled two weeks

prior to fight night when Belfort sustained a serious right elbow injury while training. Vladimir Matyushenko,

a tough competitor, stepped in on short notice to replace Belfort, but Ortiz was too strong and retained the

UFC World Light Heavyweight Championship by judge’s decision. Ortiz later lost the title to Randy “The

Natural” Couture at UFC 44: Undisputed.

In the meantime, Belfort recovered from his injury and went on to defeat Couture to win the championship

belt at UFC 46: Super Natural. Belfort caught Couture with a glancing left hook in the first 30 seconds of the

fight that opened a deep cut under Couture’s left eye. As the fighters clinched, referee John McCarthy

stopped the fight at the :48 mark so Nevada State Athletic Commission doctors could check the cut.

Couture suffered a corneal abrasion that impaired his vision and NSAC doctors advised that Couture could

not continue.

Couture’s eye injury healed and he returned to recapture the championship belt from Belfort at UFC 49:

Unfinished Business.

Each fighter now hopes to improve his future by winning this big match from the past -- one that fans have

talked about, dreamed about, and hoped would take place ever since its disappointing cancellation. It has

been three-plus years in the making, but it is here now. Both fighters are already promising a swift and

decisive victory, and fans are anxiously waiting to see this dream match-up take place.

The remaining all-star bouts of UFC 51: Super Saturday will be announced in the coming weeks.

Look for UFC’s reality television show The Ultimate Fighter to premier Jan. 17 on Spike TV. Follow 16

fighters each Monday night for 13 exciting episodes as they train, workout and live together. At the end of

each week, one fighter from each of the two teams must fight in the Octagon® to avoid being kicked out of

the UFC Training Center™ until only two remain in each of the two weight divisions. In the end, The Ultimate

Fighter™ will be decided by a competition match -- a head-to-head fight to the finish inside the Octagon.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, based in Las Vegas, Nev., is the world’s premier mixed martial arts

sports association. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the UFC programs six live pay-per-view events yearly

through cable and satellite providers. In addition, UFC programs are distributed on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish

Network, TVN, Fox Sports Net, Bell ExpressVu and internationally through Viewers Choice Canada,

WOWOW, Inc., in Japan and Globosat in Brazil.

Zuffa, LLC, licenses the distribution of UFC video games through Crave Entertainment and Take Two TDK

Mediactive, its fight show DVDs through Studioworks Entertainment, a Ventura Distribution company and its

music CDs are published by Nitrus Records/DRT Entertainment, the official publisher of UFC music.

“Ultimate Fighting Championship,” “Ultimate Fighting,” “UFC,” “Submission,” “As Real As It Gets” and the

Octagon cage design are registered trademarks or trademarks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC, in the U.S.,

Japan and other jurisdictions. All other marks that may be referenced herein belong to their respective

holders.

- News release from the UFC website with some editing from us (color, highlights, etc...)

card subject to change

(11/18/04)