UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya is an upcoming mixed martial arts pay-per-view event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that is scheduled to take place on October 6, 2019 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. The event will be the fourth that the promotion has contested in Melbourne and second at the venue, following UFC 193 in November of 2015. A UFC Middleweight Championship unification bout between current champion Robert Whittaker (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) and interim champion Israel Adesanya is expected to serve as the event's headliner.A women’s bantamweight bout between former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm and former title challenger Raquel Pennington was expected to take place at this event.[4] The pairing previously met at UFC 184 on February 2015, when Holm won via split decision in her UFC debut. However on September 27, it was revealed that Holm withdrew from the bout due to a hamstring injury and the bout was cancelled.
At the weigh-ins, Khalid Taha and Ji Yeon Kim missed the required weight for their respective fights. Taha weighed in at 137 pounds, 1 pound over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136. Meanwhile, Kim weighed in at 128 pounds, 2 pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit of 126. Both bouts were held at catchweight. Taha and Kim were fined 20% and 30% of their purse respectively, which went to their opponents Bruno Silva and Nadia Kassem.
