Tag: Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero

Joe Rogan Reacts To Yoel Romero’s Brutal Knockout At UFC 221

Although he was unable to win the interim UFC middleweight title after missing weight, Yoel Romero put one of the most brutal knockouts of the young year on Luke Rockhold in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 221 from Perth, Australia. The win put ‘The Soldier of God’ in line for the next title […]

The post Joe Rogan Reacts To Yoel Romero’s Brutal Knockout At UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Although he was unable to win the interim UFC middleweight title after missing weight, Yoel Romero put one of the most brutal knockouts of the young year on Luke Rockhold in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 221 from Perth, Australia.

The win put ‘The Soldier of God’ in line for the next title shot at middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, who’s currently on the sidelines recovering from staph and chickenpox. But on an even bigger level, the KO showed just how scary and explosive Romero is, perhaps to the point of him being the most athletically talented fighter to ever step into the Octagon.

One man believes that could be the case, and that’s longtime Octagon commentator Joe Rogan. Rogan recently opened up on Romero’s dominant stoppage on a recent edition of The JRE MMA Show, noting to Brendan Schaub that Rockhold’s recent camp change may have been a great idea, but he simply ran into a buzzsaw in Romero:

“Look, it might have been a good move for him but he fought Yoel Romero. I mean the reality is, Yoel Romero is f****** horrifying.”

UFC veteran Schaub then said Rockhold could beat Romero on any given day as well, something that Rogan wasn’t as quick to agree with:

“He might be able to, but he also might be able to get hit exactly like he got hit in that fight every time they fight. Dude, you don’t know, man.”

As for Rockhold’s next move after two brutal knockout losses in his last three UFC bouts, Rogan actually suggested a move up in weight may help Rockhold just as it has surging fighters Whittaker and Rafael dos Anjos:

“Who knows? Maybe, I mean, he’s been talking about an inevitable climb to 205. He might be just like Whittaker, and like, um, who else are we talking about? Rafael dos Anjos, he might be a better fighter at 205.”

The post Joe Rogan Reacts To Yoel Romero’s Brutal Knockout At UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Joe Rogan Reacts To Yoel Romero’s Brutal Knockout At UFC 221

Although he was unable to win the interim UFC middleweight title after missing weight, Yoel Romero put one of the most brutal knockouts of the young year on Luke Rockhold in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 221 from Perth, Australia. The win put ‘The Soldier of God’ in line for the next title […]

The post Joe Rogan Reacts To Yoel Romero’s Brutal Knockout At UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Although he was unable to win the interim UFC middleweight title after missing weight, Yoel Romero put one of the most brutal knockouts of the young year on Luke Rockhold in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 221 from Perth, Australia.

The win put ‘The Soldier of God’ in line for the next title shot at middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, who’s currently on the sidelines recovering from staph and chickenpox. But on an even bigger level, the KO showed just how scary and explosive Romero is, perhaps to the point of him being the most athletically talented fighter to ever step into the Octagon.

One man believes that could be the case, and that’s longtime Octagon commentator Joe Rogan. Rogan recently opened up on Romero’s dominant stoppage on a recent edition of The JRE MMA Show, noting to Brendan Schaub that Rockhold’s recent camp change may have been a great idea, but he simply ran into a buzzsaw in Romero:

“Look, it might have been a good move for him but he fought Yoel Romero. I mean the reality is, Yoel Romero is f****** horrifying.”

UFC veteran Schaub then said Rockhold could beat Romero on any given day as well, something that Rogan wasn’t as quick to agree with:

“He might be able to, but he also might be able to get hit exactly like he got hit in that fight every time they fight. Dude, you don’t know, man.”

As for Rockhold’s next move after two brutal knockout losses in his last three UFC bouts, Rogan actually suggested a move up in weight may help Rockhold just as it has surging fighters Whittaker and Rafael dos Anjos:

“Who knows? Maybe, I mean, he’s been talking about an inevitable climb to 205. He might be just like Whittaker, and like, um, who else are we talking about? Rafael dos Anjos, he might be a better fighter at 205.”

The post Joe Rogan Reacts To Yoel Romero’s Brutal Knockout At UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Michael Bisping Sounds Off On Yoel Romero Kissing Luke Rockhold

Michael Bisping thinks Yoel Romero took it a little too far after knocking out Luke Rockhold in the main event of last weekend’s UFC 221 from Australia. Following a close, carefully-fought bout from both in the opening two rounds, “The Soldier of God” exploded in the third round with a devastating left to Rockhold’s temple […]

The post Michael Bisping Sounds Off On Yoel Romero Kissing Luke Rockhold appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Michael Bisping thinks Yoel Romero took it a little too far after knocking out Luke Rockhold in the main event of last weekend’s UFC 221 from Australia.

Following a close, carefully-fought bout from both in the opening two rounds, “The Soldier of God” exploded in the third round with a devastating left to Rockhold’s temple and a follow-up uppercut that instantly flipped the former champ’s lights off.

Adding insult to injury in the eyes of some, Romero then professed his love for Rockhold and literally kissed him while he still clearly dazed. One fighter wasn’t a fan of the post-fight scene, as Michael Bisping, who, ironically enough, brutally knocked out Rockhold to win the belt back at UFC 199 in 2016, recently criticized what Romero did on his Believe You Me podcast (via MMA Mania):

“I don’t take pleasure from seeing somebody knocked out like that, I really don’t,” Bisping said on his latest Believe You Me podcast. “He got knocked out and he just looked so devastated, absolutely crushed. Then to make matters worse, Romero — the guy that just knocked him out — gets in his face, pins him up against the fence, has his arms over his shoulders like that so Rockhold literally can’t go anywhere and he’s professing his undying love for him, ‘I love you Luke, I love you.’

“There’s nothing wrong with kissing a man on the cheek,” he said. “But I just think after you’ve knocked them out cold, after you’ve taken away their dreams of being world champion, after you’ve literally inflicted a lot of violence, the marks are visible, there’s blood on his face, he’s maybe lost some brain cells and he doesn’t know what the f**k is going on — pinning the guy up against the Octagon and trying to make out with him is a little bit much.”

Despite his differences with both Rockhold and Romero, “The Count” thinks the Australian commission presiding over UFC 221 should have been more present to prevent the scene from happening, because some serious ramifications could have resulted:

”I’ve got to say, in that circumstance, and I’m not trying to knock any of the officials, but really happy Valentines Day, it’s really quite the couple they make there, I’ve got to say, they shouldn’t allow that to happen in future because you got to remember, think about it. I know when I’ve been knocked out you haven’t got a clue what’s going on. You haven’t got a jar of f**king clues where your head is at and you have to piece it back together.

”And then all of a sudden you have the guy who has just knocked you out with his arms around you, up against the Octagon sexually assaulting you, #MeToo. There’s nothing to stop Rockhold elbowing him in the face, punching him, because he might still feel the fight is going on. Who knows? I just don’t think they should allow, certainly not Romero, I mean come on, it was a little bit much.”

The post Michael Bisping Sounds Off On Yoel Romero Kissing Luke Rockhold appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Rankings Update: ‘Jacare’ Passes Rockhold Following UFC 221

The UFC went back to Australia last weekend (Sat., February 10, 2018) with UFC 221 from the Perth Arena in Perth, and Yoel Romero stole the show by knocking out former champ Luke Rockhold in the third round of the main event. It was a rough weekend for Rockhold, as he was originally set to face […]

The post UFC Rankings Update: ‘Jacare’ Passes Rockhold Following UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC went back to Australia last weekend (Sat., February 10, 2018) with UFC 221 from the Perth Arena in Perth, and Yoel Romero stole the show by knocking out former champ Luke Rockhold in the third round of the main event.

It was a rough weekend for Rockhold, as he was originally set to face champion Robert Whittaker before “The Reaper” got injured, and then Romero missed weight but still won. The newly updated official UFC rankings added a bit of insult to injury for Rockhold, as he fell to No. 3 when Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza passed him to take the No. 2 spot.

The other division that saw significant movement was heavyweight, where rising prospect Curtis Blaydes moved up four spots to No. 5 for his wrestling-focused decision win over longtime veteran Mark Hunt, who fell one spot to No. 6, in the co-main event. Australian knockout artist Tai Tuivasa made his debut on the heavyweight rankings at No. 15 after a dominant stoppage of Cyril Asker in Perth.

Check out the full updated rankings via UFC.com:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Stipe Miocic
5 Max Holloway
6 Georges St-Pierre
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Cris Cyborg
9 Tony Ferguson +1
11 Robert Whittaker +1
11 Cody Garbrandt
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Tim Elliott
13 Alexandre Pantoja
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Rob Font
12 Thomas Almeida
13 Eddie Wineland
14 Brett Johns
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega
4 Josh Emmett
5 Cub Swanson
6 Ricardo Lamas
7 Chan Sung Jung
7 Jeremy Stephens +1
9 Darren Elkins
10 Yair Rodriguez
11 Renato Moicano
12 Mirsad Bektic
13 Dooho Choi
14 Myles Jury
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Dustin Poirier
6 Justin Gaethje
7 Kevin Lee
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 Beneil Dariush
12 James Vick
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo
15 Evan Dunham

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Neil Magny
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Carlos Condit
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Jacare Souza +1
3 Luke Rockhold -1
4 Chris Weidman
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Uriah Hall
10 Vitor Belfort
11 Thiago Santos
12 Lyoto Machida
13 Krzysztof Jotko
14 Paulo Costa
15 Brad Tavares

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Glover Teixeira
2 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
8 Ilir Latifi
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Jan Blachowicz
12 Tyson Pedro +1
13 Gadzhimurad Antigulov -1
14 Gian Villante
15 Jared Cannonier

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Curtis Blaydes +4
6 Mark Hunt -1
7 Derrick Lewis -1
8 Alexander Volkov -1
9 Marcin Tybura -1
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Tim Johnson
14 Junior Albini
15 Tai Tuivasa *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Cynthia Calvillo
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Randa Markos
12 Cortney Casey
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Maryna Moroz
15 Tatiana Suarez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Lauren Murphy
4 Alexis Davis
5 Roxanne Modafferi
6 Barb Honchak
7 Liz Carmouche
8 Katlyn Chookagian
9 Jessica-Rose Clark
10 Jessica Eye
11 Montana De La Rosa
12 Rachael Ostovich
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Paige VanZant
15 Shana Dobson

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Julianna Pena
3 Raquel Pennington
4 Germaine de Randamie
5 Ketlen Vieira
6 Cat Zingano
7 Sara McMann
8 Marion Reneau +1
9 Ronda Rousey -1
9 Leslie Smith +1
11 Bethe Correia
12 Aspen Ladd
13 Sarah Moras
14 Irene Aldana
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith

The post UFC Rankings Update: ‘Jacare’ Passes Rockhold Following UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Five Best Fights To Make Following UFC 221

While not the strongest card on paper, UFC 221 actually ended up delivering a night of entertaining fights from Down Under. Yoel Romero scored one of his patented third-round knockouts over former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, Mark Hunt lost to ever-intriguing heavyweight prospect Curtis Blaydes, and Tai Tuivasa lit up the hometown crowd with a […]

The post Five Best Fights To Make Following UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

While not the strongest card on paper, UFC 221 actually ended up delivering a night of entertaining fights from Down Under.

Yoel Romero scored one of his patented third-round knockouts over former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, Mark Hunt lost to ever-intriguing heavyweight prospect Curtis Blaydes, and Tai Tuivasa lit up the hometown crowd with a quick TKO win before chugging a beer from an audience member’s shoe.

UFC 221 wasn’t as bad as everyone was predicting, and could actually be a launching spot for several rising stars and possibly a new champion who is over 40.

Taking that in context, here are the five best fights for the UFC to make following UFC 221.

Tyson Pedro
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

5. Tyson Pedro vs. Misha Cirkunov

Tuivasa’s brother-in-law Tyson Pedro scored a first-round slick submission that will move him ever closer to a top 10 fight.

To properly build this potential Australian light heavyweight star, the UFC is going to have to bring him along slowly, which they’ve done well thus far.

Cirkunov would be the perfect match up to see exactly where Pedro is at. Although he’s stumbled a bit in recent outings, those losses have occurred to Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira.

If Pedro can put on a similar performance against Circunov, he would be right where he wants to be within the light heavyweight division.

The post Five Best Fights To Make Following UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Luke Rockhold Reacts To Brutal Knockout Loss At UFC 221

After finally returning from a 15-month absence to demolish David Branch last September, Luke Rockhold foresaw a return to homeostasis in the middleweight division when he was booked to meet champion Robert Whittaker in the main event of last night’s (Sat., February 10, 2018) UFC 221 from the Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. However, those plans […]

The post Luke Rockhold Reacts To Brutal Knockout Loss At UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

After finally returning from a 15-month absence to demolish David Branch last September, Luke Rockhold foresaw a return to homeostasis in the middleweight division when he was booked to meet champion Robert Whittaker in the main event of last night’s (Sat., February 10, 2018) UFC 221 from the Perth Arena in Perth, Australia.

However, those plans fell apart when Whittaker was forced out of the bout with a serious staph infection and chickenpox. Rockhold’s chances to win a title in Perth, although diminished, remained intact in a sense when Yoel Romero filled in for “The Reaper” in an interim title bout, even though he missed weight and could not win the placeholder title himself.

Rockhold earned 30 percent of Romero’s purse and went through with the bout amidst seemingly never-ending chaos, and the result was as chaotic as the lead-up to the bout. After a close and measured fight from both combatants in the first two rounds, Romero used his scary athletic ability to explode and floor Rockhold in the third frame (highlights here), absolutely knocking him out cold with a penultimate left uppercut that could have dropped a horse.

After the victory, Romero apologized to a dazed Rockhold and actually kissed him while he was clearly without his faculties in the octagon. However, Rockhold appeared to not hold any lasting grudge against ‘The Soldier of God,’ issuing a statement of respect to the Cuban powerhouse by declaring he was ‘made of steel’:

A classy response from Rockhold, who almost assuredly will be facing a barrage of criticism that he got too overconfident and was knocked out for it again like he was against Michael Bisping at UFC 199.

While that may or may not be the case, what simply cannot be denied is the fact Romero is possibly the most explosive athlete in UFC history, and he’s showed no signs of slowing down as he heads toward a title rematch with Whittaker.

Meanwhile, the former champ has been forced to go back to the drawing board with two knockout defeats in his last three UFC fights. Luckily for him, the middleweight division has become top-heavy all of the sudden, and one win could get him back on the edge of title contention.

For now, however, he just had to admit Romero is a man of steel.

The post Luke Rockhold Reacts To Brutal Knockout Loss At UFC 221 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.