Disaster strikes the UFC 221 main event, as Yoel Romero misses weight for his interim middleweight title bout vs. Luke Rockhold.
At the UFC 221 weigh-ins in Australia, Luke Rockhold weighed in at exactly 185 pounds for his interim middleweight title fight vs. Yoel Romero, but the Cuban came in well over at 188.8 pounds, jeopardizing Saturday’s main event.
Given an extra two hours to lose 3.3 pounds, Romero only got himself down to 187.7, making him ineligible to win the interim belt. In other words, if he wins against Rockhold, no belt is awarded, but if Rockhold wins, he gets the interim title. This was the same case back at UFC 206, when Anthony Pettis was overweight for an interim featherweight championship bout vs. Max Holloway.
Of course, this is all assuming that we see Romero vs. Rockhold at all. If we do, presumably Rockhold will ask for a significant cut of Romero’s purse. Rockhold certainly wasn’t pleased when he heard Romero missed weight.
Should have be doing the salsa in the sauna. Some bullshit as usual
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) February 10, 2018
Ariel Helwani has the latest update on the situation, adding that the fight isn’t a done deal yet.
Negotiations still ongoing, sources say. Fight isn’t official at this moment.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 10, 2018
“Still working through it.” That’s the current state of the UFC 221 main event, according to a source involved. Negotiations ongoing.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 10, 2018
Update: Looks like we have a fight.
Per source close to Rockhold: “it’s on.”
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 10, 2018
Watch Romero’s second attempt in the video below, courtesy of Submission Radio;