Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will hold a special media conference call today (April 9, 2013) to in advance of UFC on Fox 9: "Henderson vs Melendez", which will take place next Saturday night (April 20) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
The call, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET, will feature UFC President Dana White, as well as the headlining fighters of the evening, Ben Henderson, Gilbert Melendez, Daniel Cormier and Frank Mir.
Henderson is the current UFC lightweight champion. The "Smooth" one earned his title the hard way, working his way up in WEC and claiming the crown there before fighting through a murderers row of top contenders in UFC where he would win the belt from Frankie Edgar. The MMA Lab fighter is on the heels of a very successful title defense this past December where he completely had his way with challenger Nate Diaz.
Melendez has long been considered the best lightweight outside UFC, winning and defending the Strikeforce belt for much of the past three years. The Cesar Gracie fighter held off a valiant effort from Josh Thomson in their trilogy fight nearly a year ago and has been dealing with injuries ever since, which twice forced the cancellation of a title defense against Pat Healy. Now, he's getting an immediate shot at the UFC belt in his first fight with the world's top MMA promotion.
Cormier and Mir were originally scheduled to fight each other in Strikeforce, but an injury to the former UFC heavyweight champion forced Mir off the card. Cormier has exploded up the rankings after an incredible performance allowed him to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Mir, on the other hand, has not competed since losing a title fight against Junior dos Santos last May. A victory here would put either man in contention, although Cormier has already stated he won't fight his teammate Cain Velasquez.
Brian Hemminger here. The conference call is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET.
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