Luke Rockhold will fight Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza to headline UFC Melbourne
The former UFC Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is set to fight Ronald ‘Jacare’ Souza as the main event for the UFC’s return to Melbourne this November.
The UFC will be returning to Melbourne, Australia on Nov. 26, 2016, and the main event is a middleweight match-up of two top contenders. Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold will meet No. 3 ranked Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza in a five-round bout for the main event. This event will be the UFC’s first time back to Melbourne since UFC 193 way back in November 2015, an event made famous by Holly Holm’s world-shaking defeat of then-champ Ronda Rousey to become the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. That card was an enormous success and it was inevitable that the UFC would return once again. The event will be taking place at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Rockhold (15-3) is coming off of a KO loss to Michael Bisping in which he not only lost the fight, but the middleweight title as well. After defeating Chris Weidman for the belt on Dec. 11, 2015, Rockhold was unable to defend the belt against Bisping. Although following that fight he was persistent in booking an immediate rematch, the UFC had different plans. Bisping will be facing Dan Henderson at UFC 204 on Oct. 8,2016. That left Rockhold looking for a new opponent, someone near the top of the rankings who could put him in line for another title shot with a win. Talks of names and venues began but none seemed to suit Rockhold.
Until now, that is.
Jacare Souza is currently ranked third in the middleweight division, and is coming off of a win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 198 back in May. He was able to TKO the former champ in the first round, which earned him a performance of the night bonus. Souza has won 13 of his last 15 fights, with the only losses coming from Yoel Romero, and Rockhold himself. These two fought for the first time while they were under the Strikeforce promotion. That fight took place on September 11, 2010. Rockhold defeated Souza by unanimous decision to win the Strikeforce middleweight title.
Both of these men will be looking for a title shot with a win, as well as to settle a feud that has been building since their first fight six years ago.
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