Second title fight announced for Melbourne’s UFC 193 event

MARK Hunt’s fight has been bumped from co-main event status with the announcement of a new title fight at Melbourne’s UFC 193.

Mark Hunt pics

SHORTLY after moving arguably the organisation’s biggest star onto the Melbourne card for UFC 193, Dana White has announced another women’s title fight to take place at Etihad Stadium in November.

In what will feature as a co-main event to Ronda Rousey’s fight against Holly Holm, strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will defend her title against Canadian fighter Valerie Letourneau.

Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was originally slated to fight Claudia Gadelha at UFC 195 but UFC organisers have sought to bolster the Melbourne event with another high-profile female fighter.

Jedrzejczyk, 28, is considered to be one of the finest strikers in woman’s MMA and the undefeated fighter has quickly become a fan favourite in the UFC.

Jedrzejczyk has earned the Fight of the Night bonus in her previous two bouts including an impressive (and bloody) TKO title defence against Jessica Penne in June.

Letourneau (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) enters the title fight with three consecutive UFC victories and an overall four-fight winning streak. The 32-year-old Canadian will be looking to make a name for herself with an upset win over the champion and is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Maryna Moroz.

"Nobody is going to take this belt from me. That's all!"- @JoannaMMA #UFC193 #GOBIG http://t.co/gcI2rNcgaY

— UFC (@ufc) September 4, 2015

One cool thing is we get to see @joannamma and @RondaRousey fight on the same card. Women's MMA has come a long way. Love it.

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) September 4, 2015

@joannamma so excited that you're coming to Australia. Can't wait to see you! #andstill

— Mark Whalley (@EmDubLEwe) September 5, 2015

as bad as @RondaRousey is I think @joannamma might be the baddest chick on the planet @ufc

— Trey H (@trey_26k) September 5, 2015

The announcement means the bout featuring Australia’s Mark Hunt against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will be bumped from co-main event status.

It’s not the first shake up of the much-anticipated event. Just weeks ago bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s title defence against Holly Holm was moved from a scheduled January date onto the Melbourne card following an injury to men’s welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.

The event taking place on November 15 is expected to break the record for the biggest crowd at an MMA event with the UFC aiming for an attendance of 70,000.

The new co-main event.

Originally published as Second title fight announced for Melbourne’s UFC 193 event