Las Vegas, Nevada - The fighters have weighed in for tomorrow's UFC® 150 card at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, but the x-factor in each of the 10 fights is how will the fighters react to fighting at the Mile High City's infamous altitude. Denver stands at 5280 feet (or 1609.344 meters) above sea level and the oxygen content is 17% less than UFC lightweight title challenger Frankie Edgar's hometown of Tom's River, NJ.
And unbeaten UFC heavyweight Travis Browne - who fought in Denver at last year's UFC 135 card - believes the UFC 150 athletes who chose not to get into town early could suffer in the Octagon®.
Browne said: "The biggest thing that you have to get over when you fight there is that your body doesn't respond the same at the high altitude. You can't catch your breath and your body fails a lot quicker. I think Benson and Donald will have advantages in their fights because they've been training at high altitudes for their entire camps. It's not something that you can get used to in a short amount of time. You really have to spend a lot of time adjusting."
In the main event UFC lightweight champion Benson "Smooth" Henderson and former UFC lightweight titleholder Frankie "The Answer" Edgar rematch to decide who is the best lightweight on Earth.
"I know what this air can do to your lungs," said champion Henderson. "I'm from Colorado Springs, and you have to take this seriously. I've been here for three weeks already. You can feel it when you run, or spar. You body gives out earlier, you can't recover as fast. I grew up here, and you can get used to it, but that doesn't happen in a week or two weeks. That's why I've been here for a while now."
Likewise, in the co-main event, local fighter Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone arrived in Colorado as soon as the fight with Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard was signed, in order to get his lungs used to the rarified air of the Mile High City.
He explained: "I grew up in Colorado Springs and my family and friends are all from Denver and I got here a month ago. It takes that long to be able to push yourself at this altitude."
Here are the weights for tomorrow's card.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 pm ET/7pm PT)
UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson 154.4lbs vs. Frankie Edgar 154.6lbs
Lightweight Donald Cerrone 155lbs vs. Melvin Guillard 157.5lbs
Welterweight: Jake Shields 185lbs vs. Ed Herman 185lbs
Middleweight: Yushin Okami 185lbs vs. Buddy Roberts 184lbs
Featherweight: Justin Lawrence: 145lbs vs. Max Holloway 145lbs
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8pm ET/5pm PT)
Featherweight: Dennis Bermudez 145lbs vs. Tommy Hayden 144lbs
Middleweight: Jared Hamman 184lbs vs. Michael Kuiper 185lbs
Bantamweight: Ken Stone 135lbs vs. Erik Perez 135lbs
Bantamweight Dustin Pague 136lbs vs. Chico Camus 135lbs
Featherweight: Nik Lentz 145lbs vs. Eiji Mitsuoka 145lbs
This action-packed card from Pepsi Center will air live on PPV at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
UFC® 150: HENDERSON vs. EDGAR II, which is presented by the United States Marine Corp., will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer's Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.
For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com.
All bouts live and subject to change.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can't-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world's premier mixed martial arts organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 liveevents annually and is the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now air on FX in an exciting new live format.
In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 149 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions and in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports BroadcastingInc. and in Quebec through Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with over two million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed magazine, the best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise distributed byTHQ, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.
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