New Main Event Announced For UFC Fight Night 101

As we noted earlier on the site, Luke Rockhold pulled out of his scheduled middleweight bout with Ronaldo Souza due to an undisclosed injury. This was supposed to be the main event of UFC Fight Night 101.

The UFC announced on Wednesday morning that the original co-main event bout between Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker will now be moved to the main event. Andrew Holbrook vs. Jake Matthews will be the new co-main event of UFC Fight Night 101.

Brunson (16-3) is currently on a five fight winning streak and is 5-1 in his last six bouts. He is coming off a win over Uriah Hall at UFC Fight Night 94 by first round KO. Whittaker (16-4) is also on a five fight winning streak and is 5-1 in his last six bouts. He is coming off a win over Rafael Natal at UFC 197 by decision.

“It’s not a problem,” Whittaker told UFC.com. “I always train for the long fights anyway. “I think I’m making a case for my title shot every time I step in that Octagon,” Sydney’s Whittaker said. “That’s my mentality going into these fights. I go in there with the idea to bring excitement, to show that I’m legit about how I do this. “I think this fight is the set-up for title contention,” Whittaker said. “I think either one of us could be fighting for a title and this is almost like the title fight. It’s two dudes who have the ability to get to the top, and this is gonna be very exciting.”

UFC Fight Night 101 takes place on November 27th in Melbourne, Australia at the Rod Laver Arena. The entire card will air on the UFC’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass. Here is the updated card:

Derek Brunson vs. Robert Whittaker

Andrew Holbrook vs. Jake Matthews

Omari Akhmedov vs. Kyle Noke

Yusuke Kasuya vs. Alex Volkanovski

Chris Camozzi vs. Daniel Kelly

Damien Brown vs. Jon Tuck

Jonathan Meunier vs. Richard Walsh

Geane Herrera vs. Ben Nguyen

Dan Hooker vs. Jason Knight

Jenel Lausa vs. Yao Zhikui