Robert Whittaker, Luke Rockhold to headline ‘UFC 221’ in Perth, Australia

Headlined by Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold, the Ultimate Fighting Championship event “UFC 221” will take place at the Perth Arena in Perth, Western Australia, Australia on February 11, 2018. Aside from the main event, two other matches have been confirmed so far.

Jussier Formiga and Ben Nguyen will battle it out in the flyweight division. Tyson Pedro will fight Saparbek Sarafov in the light heavyweight division.

“UFC 221” was originally for the UFC Middleweight Championship unification bout between reigning champion Georges St-Pierre and Whittaker, the interim champion. However, the reigning champion has announced his temporary retirement due to his colitis diagnosis.

Rockhold is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. He won the title by knocking out then champion Chris Weidman in the third round  at “UFC 194: Aldo vs McGregor” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on December 12, 2015.

A rematch between Rockhold and Weidman was scheduled on June 2, 2016 at “UFC 199” but the latter pulled out on May 17, 2017 with an undisclosed injury. Michael Bisping replaced Weidman.

The first time Rockhold and Bisping headlined a UFC event  was on November 8, 2014 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia. Rockhold submitted Bisping via guillotine choke at “UFC Fight Night 55”.

At “UFC 199”, Bisping had his redemptive win by knocking out Rockhold. Afterwards, Bisping defended the UFC Middleweight Champion title through another rematch.

For the second time, Bisping faced former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson at “UFC 204” on October 8, 2016. On July 11, 2009, Henderson knocked out Bisping at “UFC 100” at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas but at “UFC 204”, Bisping won via unanimous decision.

Bisping held the UFC Middleweight Champion title until November 4, 2017 when he lost to St-Pierre via technical submission via rear-naked choke at “UFC 217” at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA. The UFC has yet to confirm whether or not St-Pierre is vacating the title.