Author: Ariel Helwani

As the UFC’s debut event in South Korea begins to take shape, UFC veteran Matt Mitrione is throwing his name into the proverbial hat in a big way.

Mitrione told MMAFighting.com on Friday that he’d like to fight Mirko Cro Cop on the Nov. 28 card, scheduled to be held at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. According to sources close to the event, the UFC is planning on booking Cro Cop on the card, but it is unclear against who at this time.

“I would be honored to fight a legend like Cro Cop in Korea,” Mitrione said. “We would put on a fantastic show for those fans. I’d be happier than hell.”

The 40-year-old Cro Cop (31-11-2, 1 NC) returned to the UFC in April to avenge his 2007 loss to Gabriel Gonzaga, and he ended up defeating Gonzaga via third-round TKO, which was his first UFC win since June 2010.

Meanwhile, Mitrione (9-4) recently had a three-fight winning streak snapped when he lost to Ben Rothwell in June.

The main event for the UFC’s first show in South Korea is expected to be Benson Henderson vs. Thiago Alves at 170 pounds.

According to Miesha Tate’s manager, the world found out Tate wasn’t fight Ronda Rousey next before Tate herself.

“I’m absolutely shocked,” Josh Jones of KHI Management told MMAFighting.com. “I found out just like you did. Very disappointed to hear the news.”

Friday morning at 7:49 a.m. ET, Rousey announced on “Good Morning America” that she will be fighting Holly Holm at UFC 195 on Jan. 2. As of 10:17 a.m. ET, Jones believed Tate, who lives on the West Coast, was still unaware she wasn’t going to get a third crack at Rousey. Tate was promised a title shot after defeating Jessica Eye last month in Chicago, her fourth win a row.

“I want to know the reasons behind [the decision],” Jones said. “To not even be given a head’s up is very disappointing. She doesn’t even know yet. She is going to be absolutely shocked.”

Jones said Tate had already begun training for the Rousey trilogy fight, and her sponsors were already under the assumption she was fighting Rousey next.

“I’ve been beating everyone who could potentially deserve a shot,” Tate said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour when she believed she was going to be next in line for Rousey. “So you can’t tell me that there’s a single girl out there who deserves it more than I do right now. I’m confident in saying that because I told everyone that I would work my way back to the title and I would earn that, and I have. I’ve done it, and if there’s someone else who people are questioning, who’s like, ‘hey, what about this girl? She might deserve it more.’ Then okay, I’ll take her out too.”

For Tate, whose current winning streak includes wins over contenders Liz Carmouche, Sara McMann and Eye, it appears as though she’ll have to win at least one more time now to face Rousey again.

And to make matters even more interesting, according to Jones, Tate is scheduled to start filming a movie, entitled “Fight Valley,” alongside both Holm and Cris Cyborg on Monday.

The UFC is close to finalizing the main event for its debut event in South Korea.

According to sources close to the promotion, the UFC is targeting a welterweight fight between Benson Henderson and Thiago Alves to headline the Nov. 28 show at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, South Korea. The fight has yet to be finalized, but if it is, expect it to be announced in the coming weeks.

Henderson (22-5), a former UFC and WEC lightweight champion, has decided to stay at 170 pounds after his successful debut against Brandon Thatch in February. His team has always maintained that they were open to fighting at 155 or 170 pounds, they just wanted big fights. And for Henderson, whose mother is South Korean, headlining the UFC’s first show in the region would certainly qualify as a big event.

“I’ll do whatever it is I physically, possibly can,” Henderson said on a May episode of “The MMA Hour” about fulfilling his dream to fight in South Korean. “I will be ready for that Korea card. And you’re going to see a whole new beast.

“I think we decided, my coach and I, John Crouch, to go up to 170. We’re going to take the time off to rebuild my body. We’re going to do a whole new unveiling for 170. I’m trying to walk around at 182 to 185, walk around at maybe six- or five-percent body fat, and just be explosive. Really open some eyes up with my next fight at 170.”

As for Alves, he has decided to put his reported plans to move down to lightweight on hold for now,  as well. However, sources close to the veteran fighter said recently they wouldn’t rule it out in the future. Alves (21-10) recently had his two-fight winning streak snapped when he lost via second-round TKO to Carlos Condit in May.

On this week’s episode of “The MMA Beat,” the panel will discuss the big plans for UFC 193, the stacked UFC 194 card, Dana White vs. Vince McMahon, and much more.

Watch “The MMA Beat” live today at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. BST.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes: audio | video or Soundcloud here. Stream it on Stitcher here.

Music courtesy of APM Music.

UFC 193 is headed to Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

UFC president Dana White confirmed with MMAFighting.com that the Nov. 14 pay-per-view (which will take place on Nov. 15 in Australia) will be held at the 15-year-old multi-purpose stadium, which could hold over 55,000 fans for an MMA event. Currently, the organization’s attendance record is 55,729 at UFC 129 in Toronto in April 2011.

The Sydney Morning Herald first reported the news.

In fact, according to another report, it appears as if the UFC is looking to break its own attendance record.

“There’s been a lot of talk about Melbourne, title fights and stadium shows. The UFC is doing all three at the Etihad Stadium in front of 70,000 people,” White was quoted as telling the Melbourne Herald Sun.

The event will mark the promotion’s first in Victoria, which recently lifted a ban on fights being contested in a cage and eighth in Australia since 2010.

Already announced for UFC 193: Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit for the UFC welterweight title, Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva 2, Jake Matthews vs. Akbarh Arreola and Daniel Kelly vs. Ricardo Abreu.

Contrary to a report coming out of Australia, White said Ronda Rousey will not be competing on the card.

Fans in Melbourne, Australia might get a chance to see a rematch of arguably the greatest heavyweight fight in UFC history.

According to sources with knowledge of the event, the organization is targeting Antonio Silva vs. Mark Hunt 2 for UFC 193 on Nov. 14. The UFC has yet to officially announce the event, or any fight on the card for that matter, as they finalize which venue will host the card.

Hunt and Silva fought to a bloody five-round draw in Dec. 2013 in a fight many consider not only the greatest heavyweight fight in UFC history but also one of the greatest fights ever. However, the fight was somewhat marred after the fact when Silva failed his post-fight drug test due to elevated levels of testosterone.

The 41-year-old Hunt (10-10-1), who fights out of Australia, followed up that performance with a knockout of Roy Nelson, which earned him a late-replacement interim title shot against Fabricio Werdum at UFC 180, but “The Super Samoan” loss that fight to Werdum, as well as his most recent bout against Stipe Miocic.

Silva (19-7-1) snapped a four-fight winless streak earlier this month at UFC 190 when he defeated Soa Palelei, a training partner of Hunt’s, via second-round TKO. The win was his first since his Feb. 2013 victory over Alistair Overeem. He was also in the running for a fight against Stefan Struve next, however, it appears as though the Hunt rematch is the current frontrunner.

Carlos Condit vs. Robbie Lawler for the UFC welterweight title is already set for UFC 193, which would mark the organization’s long-awaited debut in Melbourne.