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 […]

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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.”

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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 […]

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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

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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 […]

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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.

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Chris Weidman Breaks Down Why He Deserves The Next Title Shot

Top UFC middleweight Yoel Romero couldn’t win the interim title after missing weight for the main event of last night’s (Sat., February 10, 2018) UFC 221 from Perth, Australia, but he put about as big of a statement you could on the bout when he knocked out former champ Luke Rockhold (watch highlights here) in the […]

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Top UFC middleweight Yoel Romero couldn’t win the interim title after missing weight for the main event of last night’s (Sat., February 10, 2018) UFC 221 from Perth, Australia, but he put about as big of a statement you could on the bout when he knocked out former champ Luke Rockhold (watch highlights here) in the third round.

The brutal stoppage came out of nowhere as many of the explosive Cuban wrestling legend’s wins do, as he blasted Rockhold above the ear with a stunning shot before landing an all-out left hand that shut off the AKA fighter’s lights for good.

It was a dominant ending in an otherwise close bout, one that should also earn Romero another shot at currently injured champion Robert Whittaker after UFC president Dana White confirmed he was next for the title shot.

However, one top-ranked former champ thinks he should be next, and he explained why online after the fight. No. 4-ranked Chris Weidman, who was cageside in Perth for the fight last night, revealed a number of reasons why he’s the most deserving contender for the belt:

Weidman is indeed in the top 5, and he racked up three consecutive title defenses during his reign from July 2013-December 2015, much more than the last four champions Rockhold, Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre, and Whittaker, can lay claim to with one total title defense combined.

His haters would tell you that Weidman only fought and beat aging Brazilians during his run, and indeed there may be some truth to that. But he also put together a run where he won five post-fight bonuses in six fights. Regardless, MMA is the ultimate what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport, and Weidman has lost three of his last four bouts including knockouts defeats to Romero and Rockhold.

The 185-pound weight class had been thrown into a relative state of disarray under Bisping’s chaotic – and St-Pierre’s brief – reigns. UFC 221 was supposed to be the night that put it back on course, with Whittaker defending the title against the rightful contender in Rockhold. But Whittaker’s bouts with staph and chickenpox threw a wrench in those gears, and Romero essentially put the division back where it was last July when he faced Whittaker for the interim belt at UFC 213.

Now they’ll reportedly square off for the real belt when both are healed (Romero said he broke his leg from two Rockhold kicks), and it’s almost impossible to envision Weidman getting the next shot.

He is coming off an impressive win over Kelvin Gastelum last summer but is also dealing with a thumb injury of his own. A fight versus No. 3 Jacare Souza, who recently got back on track with a knockout win over Derek Brunson at UFC on FOX 27, is probably the most logical fight for Weidman.

Just don’t expect him to stop calling out for a title shot regardless of how many losses he has recently.

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Photo: Yoel Romero Seriously Kissed Luke Rockhold After Knocking Him Out

The main event of last night’s (Sat., February 10, 2018) UFC 221 from Perth, Australia, certainly saw its fair share of hiccups, with original headliner Robert Whittaker being forced out with a host of injuries and his replacement Yoel Romero missing weight. But none were quite as strange as what happened after Romero knocked out Rockhold […]

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The main event of last night’s (Sat., February 10, 2018) UFC 221 from Perth, Australia, certainly saw its fair share of hiccups, with original headliner Robert Whittaker being forced out with a host of injuries and his replacement Yoel Romero missing weight.

But none were quite as strange as what happened after Romero knocked out Rockhold (watch highlights here) in the third round of their interim title bout (for Rockhold, at least). After flooring the former champion with a monstrous strike over the top and shutting his lights off with an uppercut that followed, Romero took to implementing a post-fight routine that well, only Romero could muster.

Running up to a clearly still dazed Rockhold, the ‘Soldier of God’ apologized to his just-vanquished opponent and then gave him a kiss for good measure.

Check it out from MMA Mania on Instagram right here:

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Yoel Romero Unveils Serious Injury Suffered At UFC 221

Yoel Romero may have come away with a huge knockout victory over Luke Rockhold (watch highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., Feb. 10, 2018) UFC 221 from Perth Australia, but it wasn’t without some damage of his own. After the fight, which he won with a brutal third-round finish of the […]

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Yoel Romero may have come away with a huge knockout victory over Luke Rockhold (watch highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., Feb. 10, 2018) UFC 221 from Perth Australia, but it wasn’t without some damage of his own.

After the fight, which he won with a brutal third-round finish of the former champion, Romero discussed the injury he sustained in the fight with FOX Sports 1’s Megan Olivi.

According to “The Soldier of God,” he broke his leg after taking two hard kicks from Rockhold in the opening round:

“Yeah, so in the first round, I think I took two kicks and I’m pretty sure that it broke my leg.”

Romero felt he was well-prepared for the fight despite missing weight, noting that his cardio was on point after he faded in the later rounds of his previous fight with current champ Robert Whittaker.

He was in such good shape despite missing weight, he said, that he could have had an even better win with a few small changes:

“Oh, I felt really good. We trained really hard for this fight. We trained very good for this fight. We had 6-7 round sparrings; I had no worries whatsoever in terms of cardio. If we would have small, minor changes, we would have had a better result.”

Romero will now move on to presumably face Whittaker in a rematch for the title in his next bout, and indeed Dana White “confirmed” the bout after UFC 221, but this news certainly complicates that fight.

The saving grace may be the fact that Whittaker may not be able to fight for several months himself after recovering from several significant strange and concerning ailments.

After the two met up at last summer’s UFC 213 with Whittaker emerging victorious in a close, hard-fought fight, there’s nowhere else to go after Romero’s scary knockout over Rockhold, but injury issues and in Romero’s case, weight-cutting questions, still remain enough to cloud the UFC middleweight title picture for at least a couple more months.

Will it ever find a semblance of continuity?

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