Jake Matthews and Richy Walsh have officially had their opponents named today for UFC Melbourne as first reported by the Herald Sun and FOX Sports, respectively.
Matthews who last fought during International Fight Week in Las Vegas in July will be looking to bounce back after being finished via TKO in the first round against highly touted prospect, Kevin Lee. His opponent, Andrew Holbrook, interestingly enough suffered his first professional loss in the same fashion on the very same night.
Despite being given notice that he would be taking part in the November card for the better part of four weeks, Matthews will now look forward to being able to gear his training camp towards a specific opponent.
Holbrook will be an interesting stylistic match-up for the young Matthews with the lightweight having finished nine of his eleven wins via submission. Matthews, despite being a well versed on the feet, also has a penchant for submissions having notched up six since making his professional debut back in 2012.
Walsh will face welterweight Jonathan Meunier.
Meunier notched up seven wins on the trot before being submitted in the third round against wrestler Colby Covington at UFC Fight Night 89 in June.
The Canadian fighter stands a lofty 6″3 and trains out of TriStar alongside the likes of Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald and is coached by one of the most well respected names in the game, Firas Zahabi.
Walsh, who hasn’t fought since March in Brisbane, has had a rollercoaster ride inside the Octagon with two wins and two losses to his name. Prior to joining the UFC the Sydney-sider had only lost one fight in five years with that loss coming to Robert Whittaker, a rising star of the middleweight division who is the co-main event for UFC Melbourne.
What do you think of this #teamwalsh? Hit me up with your #UFCMelbourne comments on the fight below ???????? pic.twitter.com/iOsyfRDclp
— Richy Walsh MMA (@RichyMMA) September 30, 2016
To date five fights have been named with Aussies filling up the bill with the exception of the headliner which features middleweight contenders Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza in an epic rematch of their Strikeforce title fight back in 2011. Rockhold was successful in that outing and be will looking to make a statement to get back to the top of the table and regain his UFC title that he lost to Michael Bisping earlier this year.
UFC Melbourne takes place at Rod Laver Arena on November 27 with tickets currently on sale through TicketTek.
Card Announced to date:
- Luke Rockhold v Ronaldo Souza
- Robert Whittaker v Derek Brunson
- Dan Kelly v Chris Camozzi
- Jake Matthews v Andrew Holbrook
- Richie Walsh v Jonathan Meunier
