A pivotal middleweight bout between former champion Luke Rockhold and #3 ranked Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza has been announced for the UFC Melbourne main event. This will be the second time the pair meet. Rockhold walked away with a decision victory when they first met at a Strikeforce event in September of 2011.

The UFC announced the bout via their official Twitter account.


Rockhold (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) was the final Strikeforce middleweight champion and moved to the UFC with a lot of hype, but was stopped by Vitor Belfort in his first octagon appearance after being caught by a wheel kick. Following the loss, Rockhold came up against Costas Phillipou, and finishes the fight with a body kick in the first round. The AKA product then submitted Tim Boetsch, Michael Bisping and Lyoto Machida before fighting Chris Weidman at UFC 194 for the middleweight championship. After a thrilling fight, Rockhold finished Weidman with strikes in the fourth round. Rockhold attempted to make his first title defence at UFC 199 against Michael Bisping, but was finished with strikes in the first round.

Souza (23-4, 1NC MMA, 6-1 UFC) debuted in the UFC on the same card as Luke Rockhold, and picked up an impressive first round submission victory over Chris Camozzi. Souza then faced Yushin Okami in September of 2013 and once again finishes the fight in the first round, this time with strikes. In his third UFC bout, Souza walked away with a dominant decision victory over Francis Carmont. Fighting outside of Brazil for the first time since signing for the UFC, ‘Jacare’ submitted Gegard Mousasi in the main event of UFC Fight Night 50. Following the victory, Souza faced Camozzi again, picking up another first round submission. Souza faced Cuban Yoel Romero at UFC 194, but after a close fight, lost a split decision. In his last outing, Souza dominated Vitor Belfort earning the stoppage at 4:38 of the first round.

UFC Melbourne takes place live from the Rod Laver Stadium on Nov. 26.

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