UFC  243 will be held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on October 6 (AEST) and it is headlined by a UFC Middleweight Championship fight between current Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and Iterim Champion Israel Adesanya.

This is set to be the biggest combat sports fight in Australian history and possibly the biggest crowd in UFC history. The current record was set at this same stadium at UFC 193 when Holly Holm beat Ronda Rousey in front of 56,214 people in November 2015.

Whittaker was set to defend his Middleweight belt in February in front of his home fans however he was forced to pull out at very late notice due to a hernia which needed emergency surgery.

Israel Adesanya has been tearing through the division during Whittaker’s absence including a victory over Anderson Silva on the very card that the champ pulled out of. His latest victory over Kelvin Gastelum to win the Interim Title was his best and it gives him the opportunity to unify the belt in Melbourne.

Kiwi Dan Hooker takes on Al Iaquinta as the co-main event in the Lightweight division, Tai Tuivasa will face Sergey Spivak and Holly Holm returns to the place in which she won her UFC belt four years ago against Raquel Pennington.

We have analysed every fight on the Main Card and our complete UFC 243 preview can be found below.

UFC 243 Main Card

Sunday October 6 12PM AEST

Main Event

Rob Whittaker finally gets his chance to defend his belt in front of his home crowd after injuries and illness have kept him from the Octagon in recent times.

He’s a great fighter. A passionate Australian and a humble champion.

Whittaker is undefeated in the UFC at Middleweight in eight fights including four by knock out.

He was devastating when he beat one of the scariest men in the sport, Yoel Romero, twice. Once with only one hand.

Israel Adesanya is undefeated in his MMA professional career which has included six wins inside the UFC.

He has fought twice already this year. Once in Melbourne, when he turned down a last minute chance to fight Kelvin Gastelum after Whittaker withdrew from the card, against Anderson Silva in which he won by decision.

He then took on Gastelum in Atlanta for the Interim Middlewight title in what was one of the best fights of the year. Adesanya was devastating late in the fight and had it not been for the bell, he would have finished him.

Despite their appearances and personalities Rob Whittaker (28) is actually almost two years younger than Adesanya (30) but with double the amount of fights in the UFC.

This is clearly an advantage from an experience perspective for the champ in this promotion however Whittaker has not fought for almost 16 months now.

Stylebender is going to bring flashiness, skill and pace.

Whittaker will bring toughness, grit and determination.

The stage is set for for one of the best fights we have ever witnessed in front of the biggest crowd to ever watch a UFC event.

The champ is in for another war inside the Octagon. Just how he likes it.

TIP: Back Robert Whittaker To Win @ $1.80