The UFC have officially announced UFC 193 for the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on November 14, headlined by Robbie Lawler defending his Welterweight title against Carlos Condit.
The event takes place Nov. 14; but will be broadcast live in the United States on November 15, due to time zones, and features what is already shaping up as a pretty stacked card.
On the undercard, Mark Hunt and Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva will finally rematch their 2013 Fight of the Year. The bout ended in a majority draw in Brisbane, Australia but was overturned to a no contest due to Silva failing a post-drug test for elevated testosterone.
Although he has never fought in Melbourne during his MMA career, Hunt has made nine appearances under the K-1 banner. He went 8-1 in Melbourne, with his only loss falling to Dutch kickboxing legend Ernesto Hoost in 2001.
Also, Michael Bisping faces Robert Whittaker, a bout questionable due to their respective places in the UFC Middleweight rankings, as well as ‘The Count’s’ recent win over the dominant Thales Leites in Glasgow last month.
The UFC’s all time attendance record is 55,724 at UFC 129, where Georges St-Pierre defended his welterweight title against Jake Shields at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. The only stadium show in company history.
Although, the UFC are looking to blow that number out of the water when they head Down Under for UFC 193, with the benchmark being set at 70,000 spectators.
UFC President Dana White was quoted in the Melbourne Herald Sun saying: “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.”
The highest recorded attendance at the Etihad stadium for a sporting event came in June 2013, when 55,771 watched Australia take on the British & Irish Lions in Rugby Union.
Interesting enough, 70,059 people attended the International Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses on 19 October 2014, the stadium’s highest ever attendance.
Moreover, should the UFC smash that record on November 14 (15), I think it would be viable to register regulated violence as the world’s biggest religion.
