While there’s still some time between now and the October 6 bout, expectations for UFC 243 are sky high, with early indicators suggesting the event will hit ‘sold-out’ status at it’s newly announced home within Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.
Should ticket allocation to the fight be exhausted, that will mean 60,000 bums in seats watching absolute home-grown hero and middleweight champ Robert Whittaker title fight against NZ titan Israel Adesanya. As such, UFC 243 will usurp the previous record holder, Jeff Horn’s legendary clash with boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, which drew a crowd of 51,052 at Suncorp Stadium back in 2017.
“This fight, it’s going to be a milestone moment,” Said Whittaker via The Tele, “Not only for the Australian fight game but combat sports, period MMA doesn’t often get these sorts of crowds. So, to be one of the few fighters ever who gets to perform in front of an audience so large, it’s awesome.”
The event will also topple the iconic clash between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm for UFC 193, which saw more than 56,000 people gather back in 2015.
The accolade will put the 28-year-old Whittaker shoulder to shoulder as a draw card with some of Australia’s greatest fighters including Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu.
Both fans of Whittaker, and fans of MMA in general are nothing short of salivating at the mouth for his return to the cage. He was set to fight earlier in the year for UFC 234, an event that needed all of 8 minutes to sell-out, but was forced to pull out moments beforehand due to injury.
To date, Whittaker hasn’t lost a fight in the UFC and thus the attention he cops is well deserved. Forget being a fan of fighting, UFC 243 is for fans of goddamn art.
