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Flyweight Championship Superfight with UFC® champions and wrestlers Henry Cejudo and TJ Dillashaw kicks off 2019 on ESPN+

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by UFC

UFC® KICKS OFF 2019 ON ESPN+ WITH FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERFIGHT BETWEEN (C) HENRY CEJUDO AND (C - BW) TJ DILLASHAW


FEATURED BOUTS:


PAIGE VANZANT vs. RACHAEL OSTOVICH


(#11) GLOVER TEIXEIRA vs. ION CUTELABA



TICKETS FOR UFC FIGHT NIGHT ON ESPN+®: CEJUDO vs. DILLASHAW


AT BARCLAYS CENTER GO ON SALE FRIDAY, DEC. 14



Las Vegas – UFC® debuts on ESPN+ in Brooklyn, NY with a championship superfight that will see newly crowned flyweight titleholder Henry Cejudo make his first title defense against current bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. Also, fan favorite Paige VanZant returns to the Octagon to take on The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion veteran Rachael Ostovich. UFC FIGHT NIGHT ON ESPN+®: CEJUDO vs. DILLASHAW takes place Saturday, Jan. 19 at Barclays Center and will stream live at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, with the prelims kicking off the evening at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and the early prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. All UFC live events on ESPN+ will be available in English and Spanish.


An Olympic wrestling gold medal winner, Cejudo (13-2, fighting out of Phoenix, Ariz.) put on his most spectacular performance to date in August when he dethroned dominant flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson. During his UFC career, he has also earned impressive victories over Sergio Pettis, Wilson Reis, Jussier Formiga and Chris Cariaso. Cejudo now looks to make his first successful title defense in the biggest fight of his career.


Editor's note: Cejudo, who won his men's freestyle Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was a Junior World medalist, a 2007 Senior World Team member, and a four-time high school state champion (2x in Arizona, 2x in Colorado)


Dillashaw (17-3, fighting out of Angels Camp, Calif.) aims to make history by joining Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier as only the third fighter to simultaneously hold championships in two UFC divisions. Dillashaw most recently defended his bantamweight belt against heated rival Cody Garbrandt by sensational KO. He also holds incredible wins against Renan Barao, John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao. Dillashaw is now poised to etch his name among the all-time UFC greats.


Editor's note: Dillashaw was a three-time NCAA Div. I qualifier for Cal-State Fullerton, and a high school state placewinner in California.


Looking for her first win at flyweight, VanZant (7-4, fighting out of Portland, Ore.) finally returns to action after a year off due to injury. A fan favorite for her time on season 22 of Dancing with the Stars where she placed second, VanZant is still one of the youngest fighters on the roster. She intends to show off her constantly-evolving mixed martial arts skills by outdoing her highlight reel knockout of Bec Rawlings and earning the third post-fight bonus of her career.


Ostovich (4-4, fighting out of Waianae, Hawaii) looks to start 2019 off on a high note by earning her second UFC win in the biggest opportunity of her career. A quarterfinalist on her season of The Ultimate Fighter, Ostovich has won half of her fights by submission, most recently tapping out fellow TUF competitor Karine Gevorgyan in under two minutes. She is now positioned to break into the top-15 rankings with an impressive win.


Announced bouts on the card include:

• No.11-ranked light heavyweight contender and former title challenger Glover Teixeira (27-7, fighting out of Danbury, Conn. by way of Governador Valadares, Brazil) goes to war with power-punching Ion Cutelaba (14-3, fighting out of Chisinau, Moldova)

• Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series signee Allen Crowder (9-3, fighting out of Mebane, N.C.) looks to spoil the highly-anticipated debut of ex-NFL star Greg Hardy (3-0, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.)

• No. 11-ranked Joanne Calderwood (12-3, fighting out of Glasgow, Scotland) intends to defend her top-15 rank against the debuting Ariane Lipski (11-3, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil)

• New York’s Randy Brown (10-3, fighting out of Queens, N.Y.) looks to rebound against Chance Rencountre (12-3, fighting out of Pawhuska, Okla.)

• In a battle of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series contract winners, Alonzo Menifield (7-0, fighting out of Dallas, Tex.) takes on Vinicius Moreira (9-1, fighting out of Brasilia, Brazil)

• Belal Muhammad (14-2, fighting out of Chicago, Ill.) meets Geoff Neal (10-2, fighting out of Dallas, Tex.) in a welterweight thriller


For the latest information on additional bouts for this event, please visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.


Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT ON ESPN+®: CEJUDO vs. DILLASHAW go on sale Friday, Dec 14 at 10 a.m. ET and are priced at $200, $150, $120, $100 and $90 (not including fees). Tickets are available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets will also be available at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center beginning Saturday, Dec. 15 at noon. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.


UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. ET via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, Dec. 13 starting at 10 a.m. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.


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About UFC®

UFC® is a premium global sports brand and the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. Celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2018, UFC boasts more than 284 million fans worldwide and has produced over 450 events in 24 countries since its inception in 1993. Acquired in 2016 by global sports, entertainment and fashion leader Endeavor (formerly WME | IMG), together with strategic partners Silver Lake Partners and KKR, UFC is headquartered in Las Vegas with a network of employees around the world. UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe, while programming is broadcast in over 165 countries and territories to more than 1.1 billion TV households worldwide in 40 different languages. UFC FIGHT PASS®, a digital subscription service, delivers exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content to fans around the world. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram: @UFC.