Anytime, any where, any place. And that’s why UFC president Dana White loves him some Ronda Rousey (pictured).
On Friday night’s edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” White phoned in to announce Rousey will now defend her throne against Holly Holm on November 14 instead of January 2 after welterweight champion Robbie Lawler suffered a thumb injury that forced him out of UFC 193.
UFC 193 goes down inside Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, which holds 56,000 fans at capacity. Given Rousey’s star power, it was an easy choice to pick the “Rowdy” one as Lawler’s replacement.
“Ronda Rousey will fight Holly Holm November 14,” White stated. “She is the main event at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia and she will break the all-time attendance record for the sport of mixed martial arts. Obviously, Ronda Rousey was huge for us down in Brazil. She was well received there, it was just a phenomenal event. It did very well on pay-per-view here in the United States and she’s obviously a huge star for us.”
Lawler was slated to defend his throne against former interim champ Carlos Condit. No word on what the UFC now intends to do with Condit.
UFC 195 takes place inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk was slated to co-headline the gig against Claudia Gadelha.
It is unknown if the 115-pounders will now get top billing or if the UFC will look to give someone else the main marquee.
Here is UFC 193’s updated lineup:
Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante
Steve Kennedy vs. Richard Walsh
Kyle Noke vs. Peter Sobotta
Ricardo Abreu vs. Daniel Kelly
Akbarh Arreola vs. Jake Matthews
Stefan Struve vs. Jared Rosholt
Michael Bisping vs. Robert Whittaker
Mark Hunt vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey (UFC bantamweight champion)
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