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UFC 243 heads to Melbourne for Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya

Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya is official for a 60,000-seat stadium in Melbourne.

The UFC is going down under for the title unification bout on Oct. 5, as the promotion confirmed Tuesday that UFC 243 will take place at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium in Australia. Combate first reported the news.

Whittaker (20-4) captured the interim middleweight gold in July 2017, defeating Yoel Romero via decision in Las Vegas. “The Reaper” scored another win over an overweight Romero 11 months later.

Whittaker was scheduled to fight twice as champion in Australia since winning the UFC title, but withdrew from fights with Luke Rockhold and Kelvin Gastelum due to health issues.