UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has revealed the reason he would not fight #1 contender Yoel Romero at UFC 225.
Whittaker won the interim title when he beat Romero back at UFC 213 in July. Then the promotion made him the champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the strap due to a medical condition in December after beating Michael Bisping at UFC 217 to win it.
As a result of Whittaker dealing with a staph infection in his stomach and did not receive proper treatment, he was forced to withdraw from his first title defense against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221.
This led to the promotion booking an interim title bout between top contenders Rockhold and Romero.
With Romero picking up the win over Rockhold, he is the clear #1 contender for the title. If you recall, that fight almost didn’t happen due to Romero missing weight.
So let’s dive into why Romero missed weight for the main event fight. He went on record by telling the media that he had a diet plan laid out for his originally scheduled fight, which would’ve been at UFC on FOX 28 in two weeks later.
Once he decided that he would accept this fight with Rockhold, he claims that he had to change things and it “messed up a little bit for the weight cut.”
It’s a deal breaker if Romero misses weight for this fight, according to Whittaker who recently explained why that would be the case during a recent interview with Submission Radio (transcript courtesy of MMA Mania)
“I don’t understand anyone who takes fights when their opponent doesn’t make weight. It’s like, if you rock up at 87 kilos, which is what Romero did – It was like 86 kilos or something like that – then why don’t I rock up at 95 (kgs)? What’s the difference?
We’re both not making weight, we’re both not professional enough to do it, you know? And the weight cut is directly influential to the fight itself. I think not making weight is the most unprofessional thing you can do.
It’s as bad as just not showing up for the fight itself. So, if you don’t make weight, I’m not fighting you. I’ll give the shot to someone else who can make the weight, who can do their freaking job.”
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