UFC set to sponsor 2015 World Wrestling Championships
Colorado Springs – USA Wrestling today announced UFC® as an official sponsor of the 2015 World Wrestling Championships, which will be held from Monday, September 7 through Saturday, September 12 at the Orleans Arena, adjacent to The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Governed by United World Wrestling, this will mark the first time since 2003 that the World Wrestling Championships, the world’s largest global elite wrestling competition and first qualifier of the Rio 2016™ Olympic Games, will be showcased in the United States.
“We’ve already enjoyed a growing partnership with UFC and this is a natural extension,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We’ve had numerous athletes that have gone on from our National and Olympic teams to great success in UFC, including trailblazing athletes like two-time Olympians Dan Henderson and Daniel Cormier and Olympic champion Henry Cejudo. With UFC located in Las Vegas, it made a lot of sense for both organizations to partner on this historic event.”
“We are thrilled to sponsor the 2015 World Wrestling Championships and welcome wrestling competitors and enthusiasts from 100 countries to Las Vegas,” UFC Vice President of Federation Relationships and Corporate Social Responsibility Lou Lauria said. “Wrestling is a key member of the combat sports community and UFC will continue to support the development of men’s and women’s amateur sports globally.”
More than 800 athletes are expected to compete in the six-day competition over three Olympic disciplines, Greco-Roman, women’s freestyle and men’s freestyle. There are 24 sets of medals contested at the World Championships, eight in men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling.
Eighteen Olympic weight classes are recognized, with the top six from each class qualifying to represent their nation and compete in the Rio 2016™ Olympic Games. The 12 session competition will determine who will capture the 108 Olympic berths that are up for grabs.
This will be the sixth time the United States has hosted a Senior World Wrestling Championships and first in Las Vegas. The previous sites were Toledo, Ohio (1962, 1966), San Diego, California (1979), Atlanta, Georgia (1995) and New York, New York (2003).
Wrestling has been a featured sport in the Olympic Games, going back to the Ancient Olympics in Greece and starting with the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896.
For more information please visit VegasWorlds2015.com and follow on Twitter @VegasWorlds2015.
