Yoel Romero bounced back after his loss to Robert Whittaker by knocking out Luke Rockhold in the third round.
Back in July 2017, Yoel Romero missed out on interim middleweight gold when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Robert Whittaker at UFC 213. On Saturday night at UFC 221 in Perth, Romero rebounded with a third round knockout over Luke Rockhold.
What was the high point of the fight?
A big unknown going into the fight was who would have the advantage if it hit the mat. Rockhold has a very active submission game, but Romero has never even attempted a submission during his time in the UFC, instead seeking heavy ground and pound to finish the fight.
That didn’t matter though, as the whole fight took place on the feet. Both men were tentative coming out of the blocks, but Romero caught Rockhold’s attention when he backed him up against the fence with some wild hooks. The Cuban dropped Rockhold with a big overhand left, then fired off another left hand to close the show for good.
Where do these two go from here?
If Romero would have weighed in successfully on Friday, he would be a UFC champion right now. Despite that, a rematch with Whittaker seems like the fight that makes the most sense for the “Soldier of God.”
Rockhold is now 1-2 in his last three fights, but that doesn’t mean he can’t contend with the upper echelon at 185-pounds. A sensible fight to make for Rockhold would be a rematch with Ronaldo Souza. ‘Jacare’ is fresh off of a win over Derek Brunson at UFC on Fox 27 this past January.
Watch it now, later or never?
Watch it now, especially to witness the devastating blow Romero landed to secure himself the win.
Romero charges at Rockhold with punches across the Octagon! @YoelRomeroMMA coming out swinging in round 2! #UFC221 pic.twitter.com/J4w5kQpRvB
— UFC (@ufc) February 11, 2018