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Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium has a seating capacity of 60,000.
We already knew Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya was the next UFC middleweight title fight, but now we know where it’s taking place.
UFC 243, headlined by the Whittaker vs. Adesanya title unification bout, is set to take place Oct. 5 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, the promotion announced Tuesday. Combate first reported the news.
Marvel Stadium, formerly known as Etihad Stadium which played host to UFC 193 in 2015, has a seating capacity of 60,000.
UFC 193, whose main event saw Holly Holm knock out Ronda Rousey in stunning fashion to capture the women’s bantamweight title, had an attendance of 56,214. It broke — and still holds today — the company’s attendance record.
UFC 243 was originally planned for Las Vegas, according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, but the promotion ultimately switched it to Melbourne. UFC president Dana White said as recently as the beginning of July that the two options for UFC 243 were either Las Vegas or a city in Australia.
Whittaker was last in the Octagon in June 2018, when he defeated Yoel Romero for the second time in an instant classic. That was supposed to be Whittaker’s first title defense, but Romero missed weight, making it a non-title bout.
Whittaker was scheduled to fight Kelvin Gastelum in February, but the fight was scrapped the week of the card due to a hernia in Whittaker’s abdomen. He required surgery for the hernia.
Adesanya won the interim belt in his last fight, a five-round war against Gastelum at UFC 236 in April. “The Last Stylebender” is 6-0 in the promotion since making his debut in February 2018, holding wins over former longtime champ Anderson Silva and Derek Brunson.