UFC 212 was no doubt a highly entertaining event which was full of talented fighters going at one another, but in all honesty, it lacked the illustrious, big names that the fans wants to see. When the fight card came out, most people were underwhelmed. It looks like the UFC have keenly identified their previous […]
UFC 212 was no doubt a highly entertaining event which was full of talented fighters going at one another, but in all honesty, it lacked the illustrious, big names that the fans wants to see. When the fight card came out, most people were underwhelmed. It looks like the UFC have keenly identified their previous short comings and have evidently more than compensated for them with the fight card for UFC 213. There are several highly anticipated big name fights that will be fought come July 8th in T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. However, in the men’s class, the fight that everyone will have their eyes on is Yoel Romero (12 – 1) against Robert Whittaker (18-4) in the middleweight division.
It is no secret that the middle weight division has been cursed with a lack of bouts in the UFC. The dates have had one set back after another as the UFC scramble to get put together a middleweight title bout between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre. The rest of the fighters in the division have been put on a hold, and now finally Yoel Romero can take on Robert Whittaker and the wait, if anything, has only added to the build up of this fight. Whittaker has proved his mettle as a fighter, he has steadily progressed through the ranks for three years now and has even taken down an established contender such as Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. However, Romero is no slouch either and has been on a roll himself with victories against revered talents such as Lyoto Machida and Chris Weidman. In fact, Romero is on an unstoppable 8 fight winning streak.
While Whittaker is more technical and seems to have superior cardiovascular fitness levels, Romero is a sensational finisher. It is going to be a tough fight to call, but we have to put our money on Romero to win by unanimous decision.
In only two days’ time, it will be the four-year anniversary of when Chris Weidman shocked the whole mixed martial arts (MMA) universe by knocking out a clowning Anderson Silva at UFC 162, changing the course of revered UFC middleweight division in the process. After their UFC 168 rematch six months later where Silva broke […]
In only two days’ time, it will be the four-year anniversary of when Chris Weidman shocked the whole mixed martial arts (MMA) universe by knocking out a clowning Anderson Silva at UFC 162, changing the course of revered UFC middleweight division in the process.
After their UFC 168 rematch six months later where Silva broke his leg, Weidman went on to defend the title twice against two former light heavyweight champs in Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 and Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort at UFC 187. Four straight wins over true UFC legends in tow, it looked as if Weidman was on his way to becoming a legend himself.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports
Fast-forward two years, though, and after a brutal beating from Luke Rockhold, a devastating flying knee from Yoel Romero, and a controversial TKO loss to Gegard Mousasi, and Weidman is suddenly fighting to merely be a top contender in the deeply talented 185-pound fray heading into his headlining bout against rising star Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of July 22’s UFC on FOX 25 from the Nassau Coliseum.
During an appearance on today’s episode of The MMA Hour, however, Weidman revealed he almost had another big fight lined up this year after the UFC offered him a trilogy match at June 3’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after Gastelum of all foes was forced out for failing a drug test for marijuana. Weidman was still getting the injuries from his fight versus Mousasi checked out, and had to decline:
“The UFC was asking me if I would fight Anderson Silva. This was, I think three and a half weeks before that fight was going on. In Rio, and I’m just like ‘no’. I was still getting things checked out on my body, and going to different doctors.”
Photo Credit: Kevin Hoffman for USA TODAY Sports
And even though he’s on by far the worst run of his career, Weidman still wasn’t desperate enough to fight a man he’s already beaten twice before in his volatile hometown on super-short notice:
“I had just gone to Vegas, got it all checked out. I already beat the guy twice, I’m going to take a fight on short notice and head to his hometown to fight him? I’m like ‘yeah, that’s not happening. If you want me to fight Anderson again, bump it up a couple of weeks, if you want to do it in Nassau Colosseum or some other time, but I’m not going to do it on short notice.”
Weidman was ultimately booked versus Gastelum in his present must-win fight, yet it’s at least somewhat legitimate to wonder if Weidman would be better off fighting an aging 41-year-old superstar with huge name value rather than a surging 25-year-old knockout striker who’s looked nothing less than lethal in recent outings.
If he does somehow get past Gastelum, perhaps a trilogy match with “The Spider” could be a possibility while the all-out mess of the middleweight division is sorted out when Yoel Romero meets Robert Whittaker for the interim belt at this weekend’s UFC 213 and then waits for injured champion Michael Bisping to finally return and defend the title against a real contender.
Jacare Souza knows who he is picking in the interim middleweight title match-up between No. 1-ranked Yoel Romero and No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker, seeing as he has shared the Octagon with both men. It was announced earlier this year that current UFC 185-pound champ Michael Bisping would defend his strap against the returning former welterweight […]
Jacare Souza knows who he is picking in the interim middleweight title match-up between No. 1-ranked Yoel Romero and No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker, seeing as he has shared the Octagon with both men.
It was announced earlier this year that current UFC 185-pound champ Michael Bisping would defend his strap against the returning former welterweight king Georges St-Pierre, however, no date or venue was ever set for the bout. St-Pierre stated that he wouldn’t be ready to fight until after October, prompting UFC President Dana White to call the fight off and make other arrangements.
Instead, “Rush” will return to his former championship weight of 185 pounds while Bisping nurses an injury. In the meanwhile, the UFC’s middleweight title will receive an interim champion this weekend (Sat. July 8, 2017) when Romero and Whittaker are locked in the Octagon.
Jacare Souza is a man who has fought both of these top-ranked middleweight contenders, suffering a controversial split decision loss to Romero in December of 2015 and a knockout loss to Whittaker earlier this year, and offered his pick for this weekend’s title clash. The Brazilian picked Romero to walk away victorious due to his massive size and ability to remain calm under pressure (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I think Romero wins this fight,” Souza said. “He’s stronger, keeps the distance well and is really calm. Robert Whittaker can surprise him and win because he’s really fast for the middleweight division, but I bet on Romero.”
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Although the UFC waited until after Jacare lost to Whittaker to implement the interim strap, he isn’t holding any grudges and is eager to see a good fight between two of the UFC’s finest at 185 pounds:
“Better late than never,” he said. “Robert Whittaker is a great champion and earned this chance. I’m happy for him. And Romero also proved he deserved it by knocking out (Chris) Weidman. They deserve to fight for the interim belt and then fight Bisping.
“The division is finally moving now. I’m coming back and will earn my title shot.”
After reinventing himself at middleweight and parlaying the decision into five straight wins, No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker is in the for the fight of his career when he meets No. 1 Yoel Romero for the interim 185-pound championship in the co-main event of this weekend’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 from the T-Mobile Arena […]
After reinventing himself at middleweight and parlaying the decision into five straight wins, No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker is in the for the fight of his career when he meets No. 1 Yoel Romero for the interim 185-pound championship in the co-main event of this weekend’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 26-year-old New Zealander has risen to the top the old-fashioned way as well, choosing to let his fists and feet do his talking on the way to a title fight rather than jumping the queue with well-timed trash talk. In fact, Whittaker remains respectful of the similarly streaking Romero, expressing his excitement at the huge fight in a recent interview with TMZ Sports:
“First and foremost, I’m just excited to be fighting Yoel Romero. I wanna the top of the food chain, I wanna fight that high fight. You know, Yoel’s a great name to fight, and I wanna fight him, and that’s before anything.”
Ron Chenoy for USA TODAY Sports
One fighter he’s not as respectful of is the champion, however, as Whittaker put things in plain terms when resented with the prospect of Bisping saying the UFC 213 co-main was a worthless fight. To him, the fact that “the Count” hasn’t faced a true top middleweight throughout his entire controversial title reign means he needed to step in and keep the division moving:
“Secondly, Bisping’s out; he hasn’t fought a guy in the Top 10 for a long time. And you know, someone’s gotta keep his seat warm. and I’m happy to do that.”
But even though he could be headed for a fight against Bisping if and when he defeats Romero, “The Reaper” held strong in the stance that he’s only focused on Romero right now, probably a good idea considering the brute force stopping power of the Cuban wrestling behemoth:
“I haven’t given in a thought, man. There is nothing past Yoel Romero. July 88 is the end of my calendar year.”
Finally, Whittaker closed by offering a warning to “The Soldier of God,” suggesting he should be ready for a war on Saturday:
“Hope you’re ready. It’s going to be a tough fight and expect a war.”
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is picking Yoel Romero to become the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title holder. This Saturday night (July 8), Romero will battle Robert Whittaker inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The interim title bout will serve as UFC 213’s co-main event. The action goes down as part of “International […]
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is picking Yoel Romero to become the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title holder. This Saturday night (July 8), Romero will battle Robert Whittaker inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The interim title bout will serve as UFC 213’s co-main event. The action goes down as part of “International […]
Following a week off, the UFC rolls head-on into their packed summer event schedule with next weekend’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the main event, surging women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will take on top contender Valentina Shevchenko in a rematch of their initial […]
Following a week off, the UFC rolls head-on into their packed summer event schedule with next weekend’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the main event, surging women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will take on top contender Valentina Shevchenko in a rematch of their initial UFC 196 meeting where “The Lioness” emerged with a close decision victory to earn a bout with then-champion Miesha Tate. Nunes won that bout by shockingly dominating Tate, and then finished off the early stateswomen of the UFC’s initial foray into women’s MMA by running through former dominant champion Ronda Rousey in 48 seconds at last December’s UFC 207.
“Bullet” has racked up quite the impressive record of her own in the octagon, getting back in the win column by soundly defeating the woman who singlehandedly changed the trajectory of the UFC women’s landscape in Holly Holm at UFC on FOX 20 before submitting previously streaking contender Julianna Pena with a picture-perfect armbar at UFC on FOX 23 in January.
The rematch between the two best 135-pound women in MMA figures to be a closely-contested affair that reflects the purest look at MMA, and the UFC for that matter, with a surging champion taking on the clear top contender, and a rival to boot, in the main bout of UFC 213. Watch the full UFC 213 Countdown video for Nunes vs. Shevchenko II right here:
In the co-main, arguably the two best middleweights in the world will face off when Yoel Romero meets Robert Whittaker for the interim championship with champion Michael Bisping doing exactly the opposite of what the main event represents, at least according to many UFC fans.
“The Count” has been out of action since having knee surgery following a close decision win over then No. 14-ranked – and retiring – MMA legend Dan Henderson at UFC 204 last October, and even though he needs to heal up, he continues to chase a huge payday in the form of a title fight versus all-time great Georges St-Pierre, who has never fought at 185 pounds in his historic career.
With Bisping picking and choosing his fights, the surging Romero, who’s knocked off Chris Weidman, Jacare Souza, Lyoto Machida, and Tim Kennedy during a seven-fight win streak in the octagon, will battle a man whom many feel has the most momentum at 185 pounds in TUF: The Smashes winner Whittaker, who knocked out Souza and Derek Brunson to storm into title contender status. Watch the full Countdown video for the anticipated co-headliner right here:
