UFC 166 weigh-ins set for Friday in Houston, Josh Thomson hosts Q&A

Official fighter weigh-ins for UFC 166 are set for Friday at Toyota Center in Houston.

The same venue then hosts the following night’s UFC 166 card, which features a main-event heavyweight title fight between champion Cain Velasquez (12-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and former champ Junior dos Santos (16-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC), a heavyweight co-main event between Daniel Cormier (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Roy Nelson (19-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and a lightweight clash between Gilbert Melendez (21-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Diego Sanchez (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC).

The UFC 166 main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and Facebook.

The first fighter steps on the scale at 4 p.m. CT local time, and doors open to the public at 3 p.m. The weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Prior to the weigh-ins, fans can attend a Q&A session with top lightweight contender Josh Thomson, who in December will meet champion Anthony Pettis for the title at UFC on FOX 9 in Sacramento. He got his shot at Pettis in part thanks to the continued injury to T.J. Grant, but also based on his April “Knockout of the Night” win over Nate Diaz in his first UFC fight in nearly nine years. In May 2012, Thomson lost a split decision to Melendez for Strikeforce’s lightweight title.

The Q&A is open to members of the UFC Fight Club. Doors for the Q&A open to Fight Club members at 1:30 p.m. CT with the Q&A taking place at 2 p.m. CT.

The full UFC 166 card includes:

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

• Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos – for heavyweight title
• Daniel Cormier vs. Roy Nelson
• Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez
• Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shawn Jordan
• John Dodson vs. Darrell Montague

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

• Tim Boetsch vs. C.B. Dollaway
• Hector Lombard vs. Nate Marquardt
• Jessica Eye vs. Sarah Kaufman
• K.J. Noons vs. George Sotiropoulos

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 6 p.m. ET)

• Adlan Amagov vs. T.J. Waldburger
• Tony Ferguson vs. Mike Rio
• Andre Fili vs. Jeremy Larsen
• Kyogi Horiguchi vs. Dustin Pague

For more on UFC 166, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Josh Thomson)