Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, was expected to make his first title defense in a five-round rematch against top contender Yoel Romero in last night’s (Sat., June 9, 2018) UFC 225 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, held inside United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Unfortunately for all parties involved, including thirsty mixed martial arts (MMA) fans, “Soldier of God” missed weight on Friday, changing his “Reaper” do-over to a non-title affair, the second straight fight the Cuban slugger has sabotaged by coming in heavy, the first being his Luke Rockhold interim title bout at UFC 221 last February.
But unlike his Luke Rockhold fight, Romero did not win by violent knockout, instead settling for a razor-thin split-decision loss.
Whittaker opened the fight with his trademark boxing attack, but also paid careful attention to the lead leg of Romero, landing the teep kick seemingly at will. The Cuban seemed content to just pay defense for most of the round, but when he did unload, he landed and landed hard. He just didn’t do enough to score many points, but also held onto his cardio to last him later in the fight.
Round two came and Whittaker started finding his rhythm, landing on Romero and shutting his left eye closed with some gnarly swelling. Once that happened, “Soldier of God” quickly picked up his tempo and tried to punch back, but never made a single takedown attempt until he end of the round, only to come up short.
Just when it seemed Whittaker was in complete control, Romero crushed “The Reaper” with a huge punch and sent him ass over tea cups. The Aussie survived but was fighting on queer street. An aggressive Romero then got clipped himself with an elbow then a kick, and the rest of the round resembled a bloody bar fight that was one solid punch away from being over. How the hell they survived until the bell is beyond me.
The pace slowed considerably for the fourth frame and Whittaker appeared to get his legs back. Shortly into the action the fight was halted after Romero got a foot to the yam-bag. The Cuban took lots of time to recover regardless of not being that hurt, which of course made me think of Stool-Gate with Tim Kennedy. The action restarted and Whittaker wasn’t throwing any right hands, leading to speculation by UFC color commentator Joe Rogan that it might be broken. Nothing but leg kicks and left jabs from the champion and Romero still refusing to shoot for takedowns, but managed to buckle Whittaker with a big punch just shy of the bell.
The fifth and final round produced fireworks, as Romero dropped Whittaker and nearly pounded him out. The Aussie grabbed onto a leg for dear life and avoided the finishing blows — some of which landed on the back of the head — until he could clear the cobwebs. After some struggling on the ground, Whittaker made it back to his feet and kicked his way to the scorecards.
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