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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
While the UFC has brought several events to Australia over the last several years, they've been unable to come to the state of Victoria due to regulations requiring any MMA competition to take place inside of a ring rather than an enclosed cage.
Those regulations have now been changed, as a new political party in power will now allow MMA competition in cages. As a result, the UFC has immediately announced that they'll be bringing a pay-per-view event, UFC 193, to the capital city of Melbourne on Sunday, Nov. 15.
That's the local date for the event, as it will air on pay-per-view in the U.S. and Canada on Saturday, Nov. 14.
"This is a major milestone for mixed martial arts in Victoria, which will allow the sport to flourish while at the same time better protecting its competing athletes," said Tom Wright, UFC Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, in a press release on Tuesday.
"The Octagon is purpose-built for MMA competition and was designed and developed to optimize safety and to create a level playing field. The UFC thanks the Labor Party for spearheading this initiative and focusing on the safety of the competitors."
Penick's Analysis: This had been an expected development, and the UFC had promised a major event for Melbourne if and when the cage ban was lifted in Victoria. They're following through on that, and it will be their second new Australian city for 2015, as they are bringing a card to Adelaide in May. Seeing as this will be a pay-per-view event, the UFC will be expected to bring a title fight this year, though it should be noted that their last two pay-per-views in Australia did not feature title bouts themselves.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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