Aussies Whittaker, Matthews, Kelly Targeted for UFC Fight Night in Melbourne

At least three Australians will compete in the Octagon when the UFC travels to Melbourne on Nov. 27.

Tom Wright, general manager for operations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, confirmed to the Herald Sun on Tuesday that Robert Whittaker, Jake Matthews and Daniel Kelly will be on the UFC Fight Night 101 card, which takes place at Rod Laver Arena. None of the three fighters have opponents as of yet (online sportsbooks).

UFC Fight Night is headlined by a middleweight rematch between ex-champ Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza. Rockhold wrested the Strikeforce strap from “Jacare” in their first meeting under the Strikeforce banner in September 2011.

Whittaker, 25, is a rising contender in the middleweight division. The Sydney native has won five straight fights, including back-to-back decision victories over Rafael Natal and Uriah Hall in his last two outings. “The Reaper” owns a 7-2 overall mark during his promotional tenure.

The 22-year-old Matthews is 4-2 in the Octagon but is coming off a first-round technical knockout loss to Kevin Lee at “The Ultimate Fighter 23” finale on July 8.

Kelly, an Olympic judoka, has been victorious in four of five UFC appearances. Most recently, the 38-year-old Melbourne resident stopped Antonio Carlos Junior with punches 1:38 into the third round of their encounter at UFC Fight Night “Hunt vs. Mir” on March 19.