Ronda Rousey, Chris Weidman to defend UFC titles at Staples Center

Ronda Rousey will defend her Ultimate Fighting Championship belt on her home turf, Feb. 28 at Staples Center, the organization announced Wednesday.

Venice’s Rousey (10-0) will fight the No. 1-ranked bantamweight contender Cat Zingano (9-0) of Colorado, in the co-main event of the card.

Unbeaten middleweight champion Chris Weidman (12-0) will defend his belt for the third time in the main event against Brazil’s Vitor Belfort (24-10).

Rousey has dominated her past two fights, scoring technical knockouts of contenders Alexis Davis in 16 seconds and Sara McMann in 66 seconds. Nine of her 10 victories have ended in the first round.

“Ronda is a special athlete, but Cat Zingano looked outstanding in her last fight … she came in and put on an unbelievable performance and destroyed, reminding everyone why she’s the No. 1 contender,” UFC President Dana White told The Los Angeles Times.

Zingano beat Amanda Nunes by third-round TKO in September after a 2013 victory over Miesha Tate, who took Rousey to the third round later that year.

Tate fought Rousey only because Zingano suffered a knee injury before a planned appearance as a rival coach to Rousey on the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television series.

New York’s Weidman, meanwhile, was supposed to fight Belfort on Dec. 6, but he suffered a left hand injury in training, delaying the bout.

“Weidman is 100 percent,” White said.

Weidman and Rousey last fought also on the same card, July 5, with Weidman winning a decision over former light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

White was forced Wednesday to hurriedly announce the bout on his Instagram account after Belfort learned of the card’s finality and posted the news on his Twitter account. In White’s post, he jokingly called Belfort the UFC’s new “director of P.R.”

White said the UFC’s selection of Staples Center for the card was based on robust ticket sales for a planned Aug. 2 title defense by featherweight champion Jose Aldo against Chad Mendes. The fight was ultimately postponed to earlier this month in Brazil because of an injury to Aldo.

Tickets for UFC 184 go on sale Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. Pacific time, the UFC announced.