UFC
on Versus 2 officially headed to San Diego, poor ticket sales prompt
move

As expected UFC on Versus 2 will move from Salt Lake City
to San Diego, Ultimate Fighting Championship officials today announced.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)
passed along news
of the possible move within the past hour, though the reason wasn't
immediately known.

However, in a press release distributed by the UFC, company president
Dana White cited poor ticket sales as the reason.

"Our television ratings in Salt Lake City have always been strong, and
when we finally found the opportunity to bring a UFC event there with a
great card, I was very surprised and disappointed in ticket sales," he
stated. "As a result, for the first time in UFC history, I decided to
pull the plug and move this Aug. 1 event to the San Diego Sports Arena."

However, Bill Colbert of the Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission could
only speculate on the reason.

"They didn't give a particular reason," he said. "I imagine that it has
to do with the demographics and ticket sales. Having an event on Sunday
may work for a (NBA's Utah) Jazz game, but it's not going to work for an
MMA event. "

"It's not the best news we've had in a while."

Nearly half of Utah's residents are members of the Mormon Church,
which traditionally uses Sundays (on which UFC on Versus 2 falls) as its
worship day.

Regardless, Colbert is hopeful the organization will consider a future
show in the state.

"(UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs) Marc (Ratner) said he's
committed to working with us in the future," he said. "I hope they don't
look at Sunday sales being a negative on Utah. I try to keep it
positive, and we'll keep talking to him and encourage him to come back
here.

"[It] is unfortunate and sad. We'd hope to see them back, hopefully on a
Saturday. Wherever it moves to, it will be highly watched in Utah
homes."

Fans who purchased tickets tickets for the show, which was slated for
EnergySolutions Arena, can get refunds at their point of purchase.
Tickets bought at a Smith's Tix outlet or the EnergySolutions Arena Box
Office must be returned to the same location for a refund. All phone and
Internet purchases through Smith's Tix will be automatically refunded
to the credit card used on the transaction. The per-order handling fee
is nonrefundable.

Tickets for the 19,000-seat San Diego Sports Arena go on sale to UFC
Fight Club members on Thursday (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT), UFC.com
newsletter subscribers on Friday (4 p.m. ET) and the general public on
Saturday (1 p.m. ET). They range from $40 to $250.

UFC on Versus 2, which is the second of two UFC events contractually
slated to air on Versus in 2010, features fights such as Jon Jones vs.
Vladimir Matyushenko, Mark Munoz vs. Yushin Okami, and Takanori Gomi vs.
Joe Stevenson.

The UFC's lone San Diego event came in 2006, when the organization
hosted UFC Fight Night 7 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.