Fans invited to UFC 175, TUF 19 Finale presser with Weidman, Machida, Rousey, Davis, Silva, Sonnen, Penn

In lieu of a traditional pre-weigh-in Q&A session, UFC officials have announced a star-studded on-sale press conference that features UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman, former light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida, women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and her opponent, Alexis Davis, as well as current “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3? coaches Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen and “The Ultimate Fighter 19? coach and future UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn.

The seven fighters, along with UFC President Dana White, will take part in an open-to-the-public press conference on Friday, May 23, at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena ahead of that day’s official UFC 173 weigh-ins.

Doors to the public open at 1:30 p.m. PT local time, and the press conference, which highlights the on-sale date of tickets for July’s back-to-back UFC 175 and The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale events, starts at 2 p.m. PT local time.

UFC 173 fighters then hit the scale at 4 p.m. PT local time.

Weidman (11-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) was originally supposed to fight Vitor Belfort (24-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) in the UFC 173 main event. But when the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned testosterone-replacement therapy, Belfort was removed from the card so he could have ample time for his body to adjust to a career without it. Instead, Machida was inserted into the title fight, which will be just his third bout at middleweight.

Machida, a former light heavyweight champ, debuted at middleweight this past October, when he knocked out Mark Munoz. In February, he took a decision from Gegard Mousasi in Brazil, giving him four wins in his past five fights.

Machida won the 205-pound title in 2009 when he knocked out Rashad Evans. He defended the belt just once against Mauricio Rua before losing it at UFC 113 in a rematch with “Shogun.” It was up and down for him at that point, as he dropped three of four starting with the Rua loss – including a title shot against Jon Jones at UFC 140. But since then, he has won four of five with just a controversial loss to Phil Davis separating him from a 5-0 run.

Rousey (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will make the third defense of her title, again in a fairly fast turnaround. In late February, she picked up a first-round TKO win over Sara McMann at UFC 170, needing just 66 seconds for her first non-submission win.

Prior to that, the Olympic medalist stopped Miesha Tate in the third round at UFC 168 in December and submitted Liz Carmouche in her promotional debut at UFC 157. The first eight wins of Rousey’s career all came by first-round armbar.

Davis (16-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has won five straight fights, including her first three in the UFC. In her debut at UFC 161 this past June, she took a decision from Rosi Sexton in her native Canada. At the UFC’s third “Fight for the Troops” show, she beat recent title challenger Carmouche. And at UFC 170, she took a split decision from Jessica Eye, a win that wound up getting her a title shot.

Sonnen (28-14-1 MMA, 7-6 UFC), a former middleweight title challenger, is coming off a TKO loss to Rashad Evans in a 205-pound bout at UFC 167 in November. That dropped him back into the loss column after a “Submission of the Night” win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in August, a win that snapped a two-fight skid of title losses to then-middleweight champ Anderson Silva and light-heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones.

Silva (35-12-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC) has not fought in a little more than one full year. This past March, the vet stopped Brian Stann with a second-round “Knockout of the Night” in Japan, where he made his name fighting for PRIDE. “The Axe Murderer” will be chasing his first winning streak since 2005-2006.

Weidman vs. Machida headlines UFC 175, which takes place July 5 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center. Rousey vs. Davis and Sonnen vs. Silva also take place on the evening’s pay-per-view main card.

Penn meets Frankie Edgar takes July 6, also at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Tickets for both events go on sale next week.

The complete UFC 173 lineup includes:

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

• Champ Renan Barao vs. T.J. Dillashaw – for UFC bantamweight title
• Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson
• Jake Ellenberger vs. Robbie Lawler
• Takeya Mizugaki vs. Francisco Rivera
• James Krause vs. Jamie Varner

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Michael Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo
• Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno
• Chico Camus vs. Chris Holdsworth
• Mitch Clarke vs. Al Iaquinta

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Anthony Njokuani vs. Vinc Pichel
• Aaron Phillips vs. Sam Sicilia
• Jingliang Li vs. David Michaud

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, including UFC 173, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Chris Weidman)