UFC 243 set to take place in Australia
After long speculation and questions about where it would take place, UFC 243 has a home. The PPV slated to be headlined by the middleweight unification title fight between champion Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya will be headed to Australia.
First reported by Melbourne’s Herald News, UFC 243 will take place on October 5 in the United States, October 6 in Australia. The event was first scheduled to take place in Las Vegas but was ultimately moved to Australia due to the connection both Adesanya and Whittaker have to the country.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani noted that Marvel Stadium, the host of UFC 243 can hold up to 60,000 fans for a MMA event and if it were to sell out, it would be the highest attend fight card in UFC history. The current record for attendance is UFC 193 which saw Holly Holm upset Ronda Rousey to win the bantamweight title, and that event had an attendance of 56,214 back in November of 2015.
There have been no other announced fights for UFC 243 although right after his win over James Vick at UFC San Antonio, Dan Hooker called to be on the card with his teammate Adesanya which was then followed by a call-out from Al Iaquinta, which Hooker accepted.
"I feel like Al Iaquinta is the perfect opponent for that kind of card."@danthehangman accepts @ALIAQUINTA's challenge to fight at UFC 243 (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/FNZaa1cdbY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 22, 2019
The main event for UFC 243 won’t just be a title unification, but will also settle a grudge match between the battle of Australia’s best between Whittaker and Adesanya. Since entering the UFC, “The Last Style Bender” Adesanya, has gone 6-0 in the promotion and has a professional record of 17-0. Adesanya won the interim title in a Fight Of the Year contender earlier this year at UFC 236.
Whittaker hasn’t fought since defeating Yoel Romero at UFC 225 back in 2018, and will be the third time in two years that the UFC has booked Whittaker for a fight in Australia. He had to withdraw from UFC 221 in 2018 and most recently UFC 234 in 2019, where Whittaker had to withdraw the day of the fight and undergo emergency surgery.
While no other fights have been announced on the card, UFC 243 has a massive title fight to headline what could be one of the highest attended events in UFC history.
