Despite a champion withdrawing from injury and a potential champion missing on the scales, UFC 221 will go on with a killer main event in the middleweight division.
Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was forced off the card due to illness. Yoel Romero, his replacement, missed weight and won’t be competing for the interim title, but the fans in Perth, Australia, are still going to be treated to a fight between two of the elite fighters at 185 pounds (er, well 187.7 pounds for Romero).
Paving the way before that bout will be a pair of heavyweight bouts. “Super Samoan” Mark Hunt will look to keep beating Father Time when he takes on Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event. Australian native Tai Tuivasa will get an opportunity to showcase his skills in front of a home crowd against Cyril Asker.
It’s a card that isn’t marked by the biggest of names, but it should be a fun night of competitive fights.
Here’s a look at the complete card along with the biggest storylines to watch for in the evening:
Odds via OddsShark.
Main Card (PPV at 10 p.m. ET)
- Yoel Romero (+120) vs. Luke Rockhold (-150)—interim middleweight title fight
- Mark Hunt (+135) vs. Curtis Blaydes (-165)—heavyweight
- Tai Tuivasa (-300) vs. Cyril Asker (+230)—heavyweight
- Jake Matthews (+155) vs. Li Jingliang (-190)—welterweight
- Tyson Pedro (-280) vs. Saparbek Safarov (+220)—light heavyweight
Prelims (Fox Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
- Damien Brown (+130) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (-160)—lightweight
- Rob Wilkinson (+235) vs. Israel Adesanya (-305)—middleweight
- Alexander Volkanovski (-185) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (+150)—featherweight
- Jussier Formiga (-125) vs. Ben Nguyen (-105)—flyweight
Prelims (Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET)
- Ross Pearson (-150) vs. Mizuto Hirota (+120)—lightweight
- Teruto Ishihara (+175) vs. Jose Quinonez (-225)—bantamweight
- Luke Jumeau (+115) vs. Daichi Abe (-145)—welterweight
Storylines to Watch
Is Luke Rockhold Still Among the Best Middleweights?
Not too long ago, it appeared that Luke Rockhold was ready to rule the middleweight division with a smoldering fist.
An emphatic fourth-round TKO victory over then-champion Chris Weidman had him holding the belt. The win capped a five-fight win streak in which he finished every opponent and looked nearly invincible.
Then Michael Bisping happened.
What appeared to be one of the more lopsided championship fights in recent memory quickly turned into a sobering moment for Rockhold. Bisping shocked the world with a first-round knockout to become the champion in the twilight of his career.
Rockhold has fought just once then beating David Branch in the second round of a fight in September 2017. Branch was competitive in the first round, even outlanding him in the first round, according to FightMetric.
Now Rockhold will be looking across the cage at Yoel Romero. Romero isn’t David Branch.
Romero’s only loss in the last five years was to Whittaker in a fight that was extremely close. Romero’s athleticism, wrestling and power will give Rockhold a true test to see if he’s shaken off the loss to Bisping and recaptured the confidence and swagger that made him difficult to beat.
Prediction: Romero via third-round TKO
Can Mark Hunt Continue to Stifle Up-and-Comers?
Derrick Lewis was the next up-and-comer to break into the top echelon of the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Then he wasn’t.
That’s what happens when fighters run into the crafty, explosive punches of Mark Hunt. At 43 years old, the New Zealand-native is still knocking out fighters much younger than himself and plans to keep on doing so.
“After the three fights with the UFC, I’d like to fight globally three more times and then retire. Hang it up,” Hunt said regarding retirement, per Mike Bohn and John Morgan of MMAjunkie. “I want to go out there in my best shape ever and compete. I feel like I can compete still with these young guys, even though they’re half my age.”
At 26 years old, Blaydes isn’t quite half Hunt’s age, but it’s close enough. The former NJCAA national champion wrestler is looking to break into that upper echelon of a division that is still marked by a lot of legacy names such as Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Hunt.
Blaydes will have a decided wrestling advantage, which has proved to be a kryptonite for the Super Samoan. However, utilizing his wrestling means covering the distance that it takes to dive into the clinch or shoot for a takedown, and that’s where Hunt can hurt anyone.
Watching Blaydes manage the danger of closing distance and Hunt try to put down one more prospect will be an intriguing battle to keep an eye on.
Prediction: Blaydes via unanimous decision
Will Tai Tuivasa Make a Name for Himself?
The heavyweight division is unusually hot right now. With the Stipe Miocic-Francis Ngannou fight receiving more attention than any heavyweight championship fight in recent memory, the UFC’s biggest division has some momentum.
Tai Tuivasa has the ability to take advantage of that by putting his skills on display in front of a pay-per-view audience Saturday night.
Tuivasa made an impression in his UFC debut. He doesn’t have the build of an Ngannou, but he displayed some serious athleticism with a flying-knee TKO of Rashad Coulter. The fast track to a pay-per-view offering shows the UFC was impressed, too.
All of Tuivasa’s six wins in his pro career have come in the first round. His fastest knockout took just nine seconds and it sounds like that’s the kind of effort he’d like to repeat.
“I’m going to try to keep it bare-minimum,” Tuivasa said, per Bohn and Morgan of MMAjunkie. “Get in there, get out of there. As soon as I get it done, then I’m off to the bar.”
It doesn’t take much to get to the top of the pecking order in the heavyweight division. With Tuivasa’s personality, power and penchant for excitement in the cage, it might not be long before he’s in the title picture and a win against Asker might be the launching point for that run.
Prediction: Tuivasa via first-round TKO
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