(This story appeared in today’s edition of USA TODAY .) LAS VEGAS – The UFC’s Fourth of July plans include a week-long slate of fan-driven activities that is expected to generate more than $150 million for the city of Las Vegas. Next week’s schedule, which includes a pool party with UFC octagon girls at luxury hotel Aria, a free concert at downtown’s Fremont Street Experience, meet-and-greet opportunities throughout the city and a two-day UFC Fan Expo, is centered around one of the promotion’s biggest events of the year, “UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman,” on July 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Nevada-based analytics firm Applied Analysis estimates past UFC Fight Week events have generated more than $140 million each in economic impact for Las Vegas, and UFC officials promise an even bigger extravaganza this time. “We’re sending in twice as many fighters as we’ve ever had for an event,” UFC President Dana White told USA TODAY Sports and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “Anybody who’s been before knows you go in and there’s all kinds of different distributors of MMA products and everything MMA, plus you have so many different fighters there
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USA TODAY: For Vegas, UFC Fight Week could be a $150 million jackpot – MMA Junkie