Bantamweights (135lbs) invited to try out for season 18 on April 15

Winner of Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano at The Ultimate Fighter® Finale on April 13 will coach Season 18 against Champion Ronda Rousey

Las Vegas, Nevada - The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization will be hosting a casting call for the next US edition of its long-running reality series, The Ultimate Fighter®, on Monday April 15, 2013, in Las Vegas. For the first time ever in the history of the series, Season 18 will feature male and female bantamweight (135lbs) fighters.

All TUF™ 18 candidates must be at least 21 years old, have the legal ability to live & work in the United States, and have a minimum of three professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights - holding a winning record (with verifiable records). Applications, which should be completed and brought to the tryouts, can be found online at http://www.ufc.com/TUF18. Tryout details are provided below:

Where:
Palace Station Hotel, 2411 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89102
Tryouts will be held in the Grand Ballroom

When:
Monday April 15, 2013*
Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. PT

Fighters will be required to grapple & hit pads. Please bring appropriate gear.

*Applicants will be notified at the end of the tryouts if they have been selected to continue on in the casting process. If selected, applicants must be prepared to stay in Las Vegas until April 19.

The Ultimate Fighter, which debuted in 2005, has launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters and has produced past champions such as Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping and Matt Serra. Bantamweights were most recently featured on The Ultimate Fighter 14, where John Dodson emerged as season winner.

TUF 18 is expected to debut in the fall of 2013.

Tickets for season 17's The Ultimate Fighter® Finale are on-sale now. To purchase tickets to the April 13th event at Mandalay Bay Events Center, or for more information, visit the Mandalay Bay Events Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com, or charge-by-phone at 800.745.3000.

Catch all new episodes of this season of The Ultimate Fighter at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

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 (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events 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 also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which airs on FX.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries, to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide, in 28 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and in French throughout Quebec via 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 nearly 2.4 million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs and video games, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.