'UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman' tickets on sale May 8

Tickets for “UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman,” which features a headliner between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC) and top contender Chris Weidman (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), go on sale next month.

The event takes place July 6 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The evening’s main card airs on pay-per-view.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, May 10, at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT local time). However, UFC Fight Club members can buy tickets on May 8 at 1 p.m. ET, and UFC.com e-newsletter subscribers can purchase tickets on May 9 at 1 p.m. ET.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed tickets will range from $125 to $1,200.

Weidman long campaigned for the fight, and though officials initially appeared they’d go another direction, UFC President White ultimately relented and awarded the undefeated contender the matchup.

Weidman’s title hopes were given a boost when fellow contender Michael Bisping suffered a loss to Vitor Belfort, which cost the Brit a promised title shot. But Weidman, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, has put together a worthy body of work, including a perfect 9-0 record and wins over UFC notables such as Mark Munoz and Demian Maia.

He’ll face what is clearly his biggest test yet in Silva, who’s emerged as arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history with 17 consecutive wins, 16 straight UFC victories and 10 successful title defenses. Most recently, he followed a title win over Chael Sonnen with a non-title victory over Stephan Bonnar in a 205-pound non-title fight in this past October’s UFC 153 headliner.

In addition to the night’s headliner, the evening’s lineup also includes Ricardo Lamas (13-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) vs. “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung (13-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC), Tim Boetsch (15-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) vs. Mark Munoz (12-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), Frankie Edgar (15-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) vs. (16-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Dennis Siver (21-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) vs. Cub Swanson (19-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC), all of which are expected to fill out the evening’s main card.

For the latest on UFC 162, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Anderson Silva)