Fans invited to UFC 162 open workouts, pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas

The UFC returns to Las Vegas next month for its annual Independence Day weekend pay-per-view, UFC 162, and fans are invited to a pair of pre-fight events.

On Wednesday, July 3, fans can attend open workout sessions to see six fighters from the main card, including headlining middleweight champion Anderson Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC) and challenger Chris Weidman (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), and on the July 4 holiday, fans can attend the card’s pre-fight news conference.

“UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman” takes place July 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas with the Silva-Weidman middleweight title main event. The pay-per-view coincides with the latest UFC Fan Expo, which takes place at the nearby Mandalay Bay Convention Center, as well as this year’s Fight Week events leading up to the card.

In addition to Silva-Weidman, UFC 162 features a featherweight bout between former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar (15-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) and Charles Oliveira (16-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC), the UFC debuts of former Strikeforce middleweights Roger Gracie (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Tim Kennedy (15-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC), Dennis Siver (21-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) vs. Cub Swanson (19-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at featherweight, and a middleweight bout featuring Tim Boetsch (16-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Mark Munoz (12-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC).

The July 3 open workout sessions will take place at XS Nightclub inside the Wynn. Weidman will work out for the media and fans at 1 p.m. PT, followed by Edgar and Siver at 1:30 p.m., Oliveira and Swanson at 2 p.m. and Silva at 2:30 p.m.

The July 4 pre-fight news conference will take place in the main lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino and will be hosted by UFC President Dana White. Also attending will be Silva-Weidman, Edgar-Oliveira, Gracie-Kennedy and Boetsch-Munoz. That event takes place at 11 a.m. PT and like the workouts sessions is free for the public to attend.

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported, the UFC 162 weigh-ins, which always are free and open to the public, will take place at Mandalay Bay Events Center so fans attending the Expo can easily go between both events. Those weigh-ins take place at 4 p.m. PT on July 5.

The latest UFC 162 card includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman – for middleweight title
• Frankie Edgar vs. Charles Oliveira
• Roger Gracie vs. Tim Kennedy
• Dennis Siver vs. Cub Swanson
• Tim Boetsch vs. Mark Munoz

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)

• Andrew Craig vs. Chris Leben
• Norman Parke vs. Kazuki Tokudome
• Edson Barboza vs. Rafaello Oliveira
• Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Dave Herman

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 7 p.m. ET)

• Seth Baczynski vs. Brian Melancon
• David Mitchell vs. Mike Pierce

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

(Pictured: Anderson Silva)