Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero had tough weight cuts ahead of UFC 221. The difference between the two is that Rockhold made the championship weight on his first attempt. He came in at 185 pounds, while Romero was three pounds over at 188. As of this wri…
Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero had tough weight cuts ahead of UFC 221. The difference between the two is that Rockhold made the championship weight on his first attempt. He came in at 185 pounds, while Romero was three pounds over at 188. As of this writing, the “Soldier of God” still has time to […]
Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero had tough weight cuts ahead of UFC 221. The difference between the two is that Rockhold made the championship weight on his first attempt. He came in at 185 pounds, while Romero was three pounds over at 188. As of this wri…
Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero had tough weight cuts ahead of UFC 221. The difference between the two is that Rockhold made the championship weight on his first attempt. He came in at 185 pounds, while Romero was three pounds over at 188. As of this writing, the “Soldier of God” still has time to […]
Many people in attendance for the weigh-ins were surprised to see Yoel Romero come in a little heavy. UFC officials held the weigh-ins for UFC 221 on Friday night (February 9th, 2018), which aired on FOX Sports 1 and their official YouTube channel. Romero is slated to take on former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold […]
Romero is slated to take on former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in the main event for the interim middleweight title at this Saturday’s UFC 221 pay-per-view event.
Despite the fact that Rockhold was able to make weight by weighing in at 185 pounds, Romero came in at 188.3. Obviously, this is not an ideal situation for the MMA promotion.
It should be noted that Romero has two hours to make the weight in order for this title fight to be official.
The worst case scenario is if Romero is unable to make the weight, which would force the promotion to make it a non-title fight for him. This is not what the promotion had in mind when booking him at this event. Keep in mind that if Rockhold wins the fight then he is the interim champion.
The company originally announced that UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker would make his first defense against Rockhold at UFC 221.
However, he was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an undisclosed injury. Thus, the reason the promotion booked an interim title fight at the upcoming pay-per-view event.
UFC 221 is set to take place on Saturday, February 10, 2018, at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET
UFC 221 is set to take place on Saturday, February 10, 2018 at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 6:45 p.m. ET. […]
UFC 221 is set to take place on Saturday, February 10, 2018 at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 6:45 p.m. ET.
Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero for the interim middleweight title will serve as the main event while Curtis Blaydes vs. Mark Hunt in a heavyweight bout will serve as the co-main event. Rounding out the five bout card is Cyril Asker vs. Tai Tuivasa in a heavyweight bout, Li Jingliang vs. Jake Matthews in a welterweight bout, and Tyson Pedro vs. Saparbek Safarov in a light heavyweight bout.
UFC officials held the weigh-ins for UFC 221 on Friday and here are the weigh-in results:
MAIN CARD (PPV/10 p.m. ET)
Interim UFC Middleweight Title: Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero
Heavyweight: Mark Hunt vs. Curtis Blaydes
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa vs. Cyril Asker
Welterweight: Jake Matthews vs. Li Jingliang
Light Heavyweight: Tyson Pedro vs. Saparbek Safarov
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1/8 p.m. ET)
Lightweight: Damien Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Middleweight: Rob Wilkinson vs. Israel Adesanya
Lightweight: Jeremy Kennedy vs. Alexander Volkanovski
Flyweight: Ben Nguyen vs. Jussier Formiga
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6:30 p.m. ET)
Lightweight: Mizuto Hirota vs. Ross Pearson
Bantamweight: Teruto Ishihara vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez
Luke Rockhold’s days as a middleweight are numbered. As he prepares to battle Yoel Romero in the UFC 221 main event with the interim middleweight title on the line, Rockhold knows that it won’t be much longer when he’s no longer willi…
Luke Rockhold’s days as a middleweight are numbered. As he prepares to battle Yoel Romero in the UFC 221 main event with the interim middleweight title on the line, Rockhold knows that it won’t be much longer when he’s no longer willing to cut down to 185 pounds. Rockhold has said numerous times in the […]
Although it may not be the most stacked card, UFC 221, which is set to take place this weekend (Feb. 10, 2018) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from Perth, Australia, possesses some intriguing match-ups, especially at the top of its lineup. In the main event, former 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold will take on top contender Yoel […]
Although it may not be the most stacked card, UFC 221, which is set to take place this weekend (Feb. 10, 2018) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from Perth, Australia, possesses some intriguing match-ups, especially at the top of its lineup.
In the main event, former 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold will take on top contender Yoel Romero in a bout for the interim middleweight championship.
The co-main event, on the other hand, will feature veteran knockout artist Mark Hunt taking on rising heavyweight prospect Curtis Blaydes.
Without further ado, let’s take a deeper look into UFC 221’s marquee fights:
Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero
In this bout, two of the very best middleweights in the world will meet in the Octagon.
Rockhold, a former champion, lost his title via a shocking knockout loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 199 in June 2016. After that fight, he took over a year off before returning this past September to score a stoppage victory over former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) two-division world champion David Branch.
Romero, on the other hand, has taken out some of the division’s best on his way to compiling an impressive 8-1 UFC record with his only promotional loss coming against undisputed champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 213 this past July.
Stylistically, Rockhold is very well-rounded. Training for years at the famed American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, he recently relocated to Florida where he’s continued to hone his kickboxing skills under the tutelage of Henri Hooft.
Fighting out of the southpaw position, Rockhold has great length and he utilizes it very well. While he possesses some solid counterpunching ability, he does most of his damage with his devastating left kick, which he comfortably throws to the head and body. It’s hard to tell, however, if this will be an effective weapon in this fight given that Romero is also a southpaw.
Due to his range, Rockhold often dictates the pace of a fight on the feet, although he is hittable, which was seen in his last bout and in his rematch with Bisping, and his defense has been questionable at times.
Romero, meanwhile, is a freakish athlete, who possesses explosive speed. I’d argue that Rockhold is the better pure striker, but “The Soldier of God” changes paces well, and owns legitimate fight-ending power.
In terms of the grappling department, Romero is without question one of the best wrestlers the sport has ever seen. A former Olympian, the Cuban is fantastic at landing takedowns and rag-dolling opponents. I’m not sure he’ll be able to do that to Rockhold, however.
The former champion possesses underrated wrestling, and if the fight does hit the mat, I’d give him advantage. He has a terrific submission game, strong ground control, and a great ability to scramble.
Romero has shown the ability to hang with talented grapplers on the ground, but it’ll be interesting to see how the fight plays out if it does indeed end up on the canvas.
Ultimately, I think this fight will come down to a few x-factors, one being Romero’s questionable cardio. He appeared to tire in his fight with Whittaker and that’s when “The Reaper” began to take over. As far as Rockhold goes, his cardio is rarely a question.
If the former champion can avoid Romero’s big shots early on and drag the Cuban into deep waters, I could see him finishing this fight in the later rounds, perhaps due to ground and pound.
Prediction: Luke Rockhold def. Yoel Romero via fourth-round TKO due to ground strikes
