Face Off! ‘Reaper’ Stares Down ‘Stylebender’ In Melbourne

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently held its “Ultimate Media Day” for the upcoming UFC 243 pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+, headlined by the middleweight title fight between reigning division kingpin, Robert Whittaker, and 185-pound interim champion, Israel Adesanya.

They’ll throw down in the five-round main event, scheduled for Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on Sun., Oct. 6, 2019 (airing stateside on Sat., Oct. 5, due to the considerable discrepancy in time zones).

Watch them come face-to-face in the meth-free video above.

Whittaker (20-4) captured the vacant middleweight crown following a five-round battle against Yoel Romero at UFC 213 over two years ago, then ran it back with “Soldier of God” at UFC 225, winning another close decision over the Cuban slugger.

As for Adesanya (17-0), he stymied top contender Kelvin Gastelum in their interim championship headliner at UFC 236 last April, his sixth straight win since joining the promotion back in early 2018.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 243 fight card on fight night (click here), starting with the Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

To see who else is fighting at UFC 243 click here.