A WORLD TITLE SHOT IS ON THE LINE AS ROBBIE LAWLER BATTLES MATT BROWN JULY 26 IN SAN JOSE

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Las Vegas, Nevada – UFC® returns to SAP Center at San Jose with a title elimination match pitting two knockout artists against one another as No. 1-ranked Robbie Lawler will take on No. 5-ranked Matt Brown with the winner earning a shot at champion Johny Hendricks. Additionally, the card will feature several Bay Area-based fighters in Josh Thomson, Noad Lahat and Kyle Kingsbury.

Coming off an impressive third-round finish over an always game Jake Ellenberger, Lawler (23-10, 1 NC, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) will take on the surging Brown (21-11, fighting out of Columbus, Ohio) in hopes of securing a second crack at UFC gold. Brown, who has put together one of the most impressive runs in mixed martial arts today, currently rides a seven-fight win streak, and will be looking to lock down a title shot he feels is long overdue. On July 26 at SAP Center, two of the best welterweights in the world will put it all on the line in a battle for the top contender position.

In addition, light heavyweight (No. 5) Anthony Johnson (17-4, fighting out of Boca Raton, Fla.) is back in the Octagon® after an impressive decision victory over Phil Davis in his return to the UFC earlier this year. The hard-hitting “Rumble” will take on Brazilian star Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-5, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) as he primes himself for title contention. “Lil Nog” makes his return to the cage for the first time since defeating former champion Rashad Evans, and the two-time Brazilian boxing champion plans to tack another win on to his already stellar MMA career.

Also, fresh off a controversial loss to former lightweight champion Benson Henderson, San Jose native (No. 3) Thomson (22-6, 1 NC, fighting out of San Jose, Calif.) will look to put on a show in front of his hometown fans as he meets former The Ultimate Fighter finalist (No. 10) Michael Johnson (16-8, fighting out of Boca Raton, Fla.). “The Menace,” who is riding a three-fight win streak, will look to climb the ladder in the talent-rich lightweight division with a victory over the former STRIKEFORCE® lightweight champion.

Also scheduled for the event:

No.7-ranked featherweight Clay Guida (31-11) vs. four-time “Fight Night” bonus winner and eleventh-ranked Dennis Bermudez (14-3).

Second degree taekwondo black belt Daron Cruickshank (15-4) vs. 14th-ranked Jorge Masvidal (26-8) at lightweight.

Welterweight Tim Means (20-6-1) vs. Rio de Janeiro’s Hernani Perpetuo (17-4, 1 NC).

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Noad Lahat (7-1) vs. California native and fellow submission ace Steven Siler (23-12).

San Jose native Kyle Kingsbury (11-5, 1 NC) returns to action in the light heavyweight division.

Tickets for FOX UFC® SATURDAY: LAWLER vs. BROWN go on sale June 6 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $175, $125, $90, $75 and $50. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets are also available at SAP Center ticket office. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, June 4 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, June 5 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

FOX UFC SATURDAY: LAWLER vs. BROWN will air live on FOX at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Saturday, July 26, with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship® Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (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, Beijing, 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 over 145 countries to 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®, Octagon™ branded apparel, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and on Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.