On Friday, UFC President Dana White announced on ESPN SportsCenter that women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm will now headline UFC 193 on November 15 — the UFC’s debut in Melbourne, Australia.
The main reason for the change was that welterweight champion Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit had to be postponed due to a non-serious injury to the champion. No makeup date has been announced yet.
The other reason: the event is at Etihad Stadium, a 50,000 seat venue that they wanted to come close to filling up.
Rousey vs. Holm was originally set for UFC 195 on January 2nd in Las Vegas. Rousey (12-0) will be looking for the eighth straight defense of her UFC/Strikeforce belt, while Holm (9-0) will be looking for her third UFC victory and first major MMA title.
Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will remain on the January 2nd show, which still needs a main event. Double J is expected to face Valerie Letourneau as Claudia Gadelha won’t be ready in time to compete due to injury. White had wanted to move Double J up to November as well, but that is too soon for Letourneau.