Luke Rockhold vs. Jacare Souza Headlines UFC Return to Australia | MMAWeekly.com

Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will square off with Ronald “Jacare” Souza in the headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 100 on Nov. 26 (local time) in Melbourne, Australia. UFC officials announced the bout late Sunday.

The bout is a rematch of their January 2012 bout under the Strikeforce banner. In that first fight, Rockhold won a five-round unanimous decision over Jacare, taking the Strikeforce middleweight championship from him in the process.

TRENDING > Donald Cerrone Died a Little Bit When Robbie Lawler Said He Wouldn’t Fight

They are now two of the top contenders to the UFC middleweight championship wrapped around Michael Bisping‘s waist. Bisping, however, is putting his belt on the line against Dan Henderson, who plans to retire following the fight, win or lose.

Rockhold’s (15-3) last trip to the Octagon was against Bisping in June, when he lost the belt to the brash Brit via first-round TKO stoppage. He wants nothing more than to get back in the cage with Bisping, but he’ll have to go through Jacare again to get there.

Jacare (24-4, 1 NC) has been on a 9-1 run since losing the Strikeforce belt to Rockhold. He had his championship momentum slowed when he lost a split decision to Yoel Romero at UFC 194 late last year. Jacare bounced back with a first-round stoppage of Vitor Belfort at UFC 198 in May.

A victory over Rockhold would put Jacare in his strongest position yet to demand a shot at the UFC belt.

UFC Fight Night 100 takes place on Sunday, Nov. 26, in Melbourne, but airs live on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday, Nov. 25, in the U.S.

Follow MMAWeekly.com on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram