A highly anticipated middleweight division match will be headlining this November's UFC Fight Night: Melbourne as former UFC & Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold again battles former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
The two first met at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitinov in September 2011, where Rockhold defeated Souza by unanimous decision to win the Strikeforce Middleweight Title. Rockhold would go onto defend the championship twice before Strikeforce was absorbed into the UFC in 2013. Rockhold will also be competing for the first time since losing the UFC Middleweight Title to Michael Bisping at UFC 199.
Souza has won nine of ten fights since that loss to Rockhold, with notable wins coming over Derek Brunson, Yushin Okami, Gegard Mousasi and Vitor Belfort. Souza has only dropped one fight under the UFC banner, which was a decision loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 194 last year.
At this point in both fighters' UFC runs, Souza will now be headlining his second UFC event (UFC Fight Night: Souza vs. Mousasi was the other), while Rockhold will be headlining his sixth UFC event (UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Rockhold, UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Philippou, UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping, UFC On Fox 15 & UFC 199 were the others).
There are no other fights yet announced or even rumored for this November event, but more fight announcements are expected to be coming in the next few weeks. UFC Fight Night: Melbourne will be taking place on November 26th from the Rod Laver Stadium in Melbourne, Australia with Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza headlining.
