The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Japan for the first time since UFC 29 twelve years ago and will air seven fights on the UFC 144 Pay-Per-View broadcast with an expected run time of four hours instead of the normal three hour events held previously. UFC 144 is headlined by a lightweight championship bout Frankie Edgar (Champ) vs. Ben Henderson and will feature Japanese fan favorites Mark Hunt, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson all fought in Japan and developed big fan followings in there before fighting in the United States with the UFC.
The event will take place at the Saitama Super Arena on Saturday, Feburary 26, 2012 (Japanese standard time) Feb. 25 in North America.
UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson PPV Main Card (Feb. 25, 2012, 10:00 pm ET/7:00 pm PT)
Lightweight bout: Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon
Featherweight bout: Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski
Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch
Welterweight bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
Heavyweight bout: Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo
Catchweight (211 lb) bout: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Ryan Bader
Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (Champion) vs. Ben Henderson
Mixed Martial Arts fans can watch the UFC 144: Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson Pay-Per-View online via live streaming video on UFC’s official YouTube page (www.youtube.com/UFC) and UFC.tv
