Joanna Jedrejczyk (Photo : UFC)
Besides featuring Ronda Rousey versus Holly Holm for the UFC Women's Bantamweight title on Nov. 14, the match that has been moved to Australia will also have a bout for the UFC Women's Strawweight title.
Fox reports that Joanna Jedrejczyk, the title holder, will battle Valerie Letourneau. Unlike in boxing where the other bouts are considered undercards, the match between the two is billed as a co-main event.
Rousey considers the match a sign of progress for the sport. She explains, "I'm really encouraged by the progress we have seen. Dana [White] went from saying that we'd never have seen women in the UFC, now he's entrusting us to break their gate record." She believes the two matches could fill the 75,000 seats of the Etihad Arena in Melbourne for the UFC 193 event.
To generate more interest in the bout, Rousey advised fans to snap up the tickets as well as the pay-per-view buys, hinting of her retirement soon from mixed martial arts. She says she does not want to be still fighting when she reaches her 30s.
Her bout against Holm would be her seventh straight defense of her title. The last was in August when she defeated Brazilian contender Bethe Correia in just 34 seconds. If she beats Holm and two more opponents consecutively, she would match the record set by UFC icon Anderson Silva.
"I guess it's within striking distance. But let's get the gate first, the record gate, and then maybe later maybe I will want to fight that long," Rousey says.
Tickets to the event, which is on 15 in Australia, would start to be sold on Sept. 21, according to Etihad Stadium. But pre-sales starts Sept. 14.
