Fans invited to UFC 196 workouts, 'Unstoppable' launch, weigh-ins in Las Vegas

Fans who will be in “Sin City” for this week’s big pay-per-view have some opportunities to get up close and personal with fighters from UFC 196, as well as upcoming card headliners.

Fans are invited to Wednesday’s open workouts, a special UFC “Unstoppable” launch campaign, and the official fighter weigh-ins.

UFC 196 takes place Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Wednesday’s open workouts take place in the Jabbawockeez Theater at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The workouts begin at 1 p.m. PT (local time). Fighters from the the main and co-main events will work out for the fans and media.

Scheduled to attend are featherweight champion Conor McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who moves up to welterweight to fight Nate Diaz (18-10 MMA, 13-8 UFC) in the main event. McGregor was supposed to challenge lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos for his title until dos Anjos pulled out last week with a broken foot and Diaz was tapped as a short-notice replacement, but at 170 pounds.

Women’s bantamweight champ Holly Holm (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) also will work out for fans and the media. She meets former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in the first defense of her title after upsetting Ronda Rousey this past November. The winner is expected to fight Rousey later this year.

On Friday, the UFC 196 weigh-ins take place at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Doors open to the public at 1:30 p.m. PT, and the first fighter will step on the scale at 4 p.m.

But prior to the scale proceedings, fans will have an opportunity to check out a special presentation for the next quarter of the UFC’s calendar year, which the promotion is dubbing “Unstoppable.” (This past September, the UFC did a similar kickoff for the fourth quarter of 2015, which was christened “Go Big.”)

UFC President Dana White is scheduled to lead the “Unstoppable” charge and is expected to be joined by upcoming event headliners Junior dos Santos and Ben Rothwell (UFC Fight Night 86 in Croatia); Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson (UFC on FOX 19 in Tampa, Fla.); light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former champ Jon Jones (UFC 197 main event in Las Vegas); flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo (UFC 197 co-main event); and middleweight titleholder Luke Rockhold and ex-champ Chris Weidman, who are expected to headline UFC 199 in June, though a date and location have not yet been announced.

MMAjunkie will have full coverage of the fan and media events throughout the week.

The complete UFC 196 lineup includes:

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

• Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz
• Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate – for women’s bantamweight title
• Ilir Latifi vs. Gian Villante
• Corey Anderson vs. Tom Lawlor
• Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko

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

• Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Brandon Thatch
• Erick Silva vs. Nordine Taleb
• Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Vitor Miranda
• Darren Elkins vs. Chas Skelly

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

• Jim Miller vs. Diego Sanchez
• Jason Saggo vs. Justin Salas
• Julian Erosa vs. Teruto Ishihara

For more on UFC 196, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.