UFC President Dana White announced last night on ESPN SportsCenter that Ronda Rousey's defense of her UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship against Holly Holm has been moved up to UFC 193 Nov. 15 at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. It will air in North America on Nov. 14. Robbie Lawlor has pulled out of the original main event due to a thumb injury. Ronda vs Holly was originally scheduled for UFC 195 Jan. 2 in Las Vegas. The arena in Melbourne has a capacity of 90,000 so obviously White wants to set a new attendance record. Who better to set that record than Ronda? So how did White talk Ronda into moving the fight? He told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that he didn't have to. He called her on the phone and said "Hypothetically speaking...". She interrupted him and asked him what he needs. She immediately agreed to moving the fight up. Because of how Ronda prepares for a fight, I don't think the change makes any difference. The only thing she will need to do differently is go to Australia earlier in the week because of the time zone change. It's not a big deal as Ronda has fought in judo tournaments worldwide. White's original plan was to have Joanna Jedrzejczyk defend her UFC Strawweight Championship against Claudia Gadelha as a co-main event on Jan. 2. That fight was tentatively announced pending Claudia's recovery from a broken finger. He told Iole that Claudia will not be ready for Jan. 2 and Valerie Letourneau was going to get the title shot. He wanted to move that match to UFC 193 too. But he told Iole that Valerie would not be ready for Nov. 15. So he has to find a different challenger for UFC 193 or leave Joanna vs Valerie on UFC 195. When he decides what he wants to do, I will let you know.
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