Tag: Yoel Romero

Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker Face Off in July for Interim UFC Middleweight Belt

Is it possible for an interim title fight to carry more electricity than the real thing? That may be just the situation in the UFC middleweight division.
With lineal champ Michael Bisping (30-7) on the shelf following knee surgery, Cuban monster Yoel R…

Is it possible for an interim title fight to carry more electricity than the real thing? That may be just the situation in the UFC middleweight division.

With lineal champ Michael Bisping (30-7) on the shelf following knee surgery, Cuban monster Yoel Romero (12-1) and New Zealand knockout artist Robert Whittaker (18-4) will vie for the interim strap July 8 at UFC 213.

That’s according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, who announced the bout Tuesday evening on SportsCenter.

It’s been a topsy-turvy stretch of late for the middleweight division.

This winter, former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre (25-2) announced a UFC return—at middleweight. There, UFC officials quickly announced, he would receive an immediate shot at Bisping’s title.

That would be the same Bisping who has resoundingly convinced a large number of officials, pundits and fans that he is ducking Romero, the Olympic wrestler who has torn through his last eight opponents with a fearsome blend of skill, strength and power.

The plot thickened when St-Pierre announced that he wouldn’t be ready to face Bisping until later this fall or even winter. That prompted UFC President Dana White to call off the Bisping-GSP bout altogether and proclaim Romero “next in line” for the title shot.

Of course, this is the same White who said the same thing about Romero back in January—only to turn around and hand the shot to St-Pierre.

Still following? Great. That brings us to Whittaker, who shot to the highest echelon of the division in April with his convincing knockout of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Apparently, that was enough to convince the UFC to book him as Romero’s foil in a massive fight on a massive midsummer card.

Taking Romero’s winning streak and the way Bisping has studiously avoided him, then combining it with Whittaker’s explosiveness and huge recent knockout, and this could easily be interpreted as the “real” fight for divisional dominance. Particularly when compared with Bisping and St-Pierre, who for all his greatness is now 36 years old and hasn’t competed in more than three years—and never at middleweight.

Cynical fans can be forgiven, however, if they continue to follow this division’s storyline with one eye between now and UFC 213 in Las Vegas.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Yoel Romero vs. Robert Whittaker Set For Interim Title Bout at UFC 213

The stage is set for an interim title bout between Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker. UFC 213 was supposed to be headlined by a bantamweight title bout between champion Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw. A back injury has forced Garbrandt off the card and we now have a new co-headliner. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President […]

The stage is set for an interim title bout between Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker. UFC 213 was supposed to be headlined by a bantamweight title bout between champion Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw. A back injury has forced Garbrandt off the card and we now have a new co-headliner. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President […]

Bisping On Possible Interim Title: I Hope Whittaker Beats Yoel’s Brains Out

It’s looking like the verbally agreed to bout between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre isn’t going to happen. This past March UFC President Dana White announced that former welterweight king “GSP” would be making his Octagon return at the 185-pound weight-class and would be receiving an immediate title shot against Michael Bisping. A target date […]

The post Bisping On Possible Interim Title: I Hope Whittaker Beats Yoel’s Brains Out appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It’s looking like the verbally agreed to bout between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre isn’t going to happen.

This past March UFC President Dana White announced that former welterweight king “GSP” would be making his Octagon return at the 185-pound weight-class and would be receiving an immediate title shot against Michael Bisping. A target date in July seemed to be the promotion’s hope for the middleweight title clash, however, earlier this month St-Pierre claimed he wouldn’t be ready to compete until after October.

As a result, Dana White called off the bout between “The Count” and St-Pierre, naming No. 1-ranked Yoel Romero as the new challenger for the middleweight strap. White confirmed that the Canadian’s mixed martial arts (MMA) return would be against the welterweight champion (seeing as current champ Tyron Woodley is expected to defend his title against Demian Maia first).

Bisping, however, recently claimed he has been dealing with a lingering knee injury which will hinder his ability to compete this summer, thus opening the door for an interim title fight between Romero and No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker.

“The Count” took to his podcast, Believe You Me, to comment on the whole situation in the middleweight division and stated that while he has yet to hear any official word, he believes his fight with St-Pierre isn’t going to happen (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I know they’re trying to move on from the GSP fight. From my understanding, it looks like the GSP fight isn’t happening. I’ve yet to have a discussion with them about this. From my understanding, Georges still wants to fight me and I still want to fight Georges. So this is what I want to know: I want to know what the problem is. If the UFC have moved on, they got tired of waiting, whatever. But to my understanding, the fight was never gonna really happen in July anyway. I heard that from some sources right at the start. They said, ‘we’re hoping for July 8th but it’s probably not gonna be that.’

“Now they’re saying they want to do a fight in July and my knee isn’t gonna be ready in July. [St-Pierre] wasn’t gonna be ready until October, November. So to me, that plays perfectly but I know the UFC wants me to fight and they’re saying if I can’t fight that they’re gonna do an interim title fight.”

Bisping went on to claim that he believes an interim title bout is next for the 185-pound division due to his inability to compete. His leading candidates for the bout would be Romero and Whittaker.

While Bisping holds no ill-will towards Whittaker, he has a great deal of disrespect for the top-ranked Cuban challenger, who the Englishman believes is nothing more than a cheater. “The Count” said that if Romero and Whittaker meet in the Octagon, he’s hoping that the New Zealander will ‘beat the brains’ out of Romero:

“I’m assuming that they’re probably gonna do an interim title fight but I’ve got to speak to Dana. . . Probably Whittaker vs. Yoel, if I were the matchmakers, that’s what I’d do. Whittaker, we all know this, he’s on an absolute tear. I’ve got nothing against Robert Whittaker. Fine young man, great fighter, fights hard, got a lot of respect for him. Can’t say the same about Yoel. Yoel is certainly not on my Christmas card list. We all know my thoughts on him. He’s a scumbag, he’s a cheat, and that’s that. So if they do fight I, hope Whittaker beats the brains out of him.”

“I couldn’t care less. If they want to do an interim title fight, so be it. I understand they’ve got to keep the division moving. It’s been a while and like I said, I can’t fight, certainly for the next few months anyway. So from the UFC’s side, I understand that.”

His chances may not be great, but Bisping is still hoping his fight with St-Pierre will come through. The middleweight champ feels as though he’s owed this fight after toppling the best the division has to offer, and will tell Dana White exactly that when he speaks to him again:

“It probably isn’t happening but let’s not give up all hope,” he said. “It’s not done. We’re gonna have the conversation, I’m gonna put my best foot forward that I should still fight GSP. That is my objective. When I speak to Dana, I’m gonna say ‘Dana, I feel like you owe me this fight.’ We had a deal. I fought everybody they put in front of me my whole career, I’ve been a soldier for the organization, so we’ll see what happens.”

The post Bisping On Possible Interim Title: I Hope Whittaker Beats Yoel’s Brains Out appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Dana White: UFC Looking Into Interim Middleweight Championship

UFC president Dana White is fully on board with moving the middleweight division along, even without reigning champion Michael Bisping. After stating that Yoel Romero would meet Bisping next and not Georges St-Pierre, White recently told ESPN that if Bisping is unable to fight soon, they’ll put together an interim title fight. And, sorry Luke […]

UFC president Dana White is fully on board with moving the middleweight division along, even without reigning champion Michael Bisping. After stating that Yoel Romero would meet Bisping next and not Georges St-Pierre, White recently told ESPN that if Bisping is unable to fight soon, they’ll put together an interim title fight. And, sorry Luke […]

Yoel Romero Is Done Chasing Michael Bisping

Yoel Romero is undoubtedly deserving of a 185-pound title shot. The No. 1-ranked UFC middleweight contender has won an incredible eight straight fights, with six of those victories coming by way of stoppage. The former Olympic silver medalist has scored notable wins over the likes of Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Chris

The post Yoel Romero Is Done Chasing Michael Bisping appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Yoel Romero is undoubtedly deserving of a 185-pound title shot.

The No. 1-ranked UFC middleweight contender has won an incredible eight straight fights, with six of those victories coming by way of stoppage. The former Olympic silver medalist has scored notable wins over the likes of Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Chris Weidman, most recently flooring Weidman with a vicious flying knee at UFC 205 last November.

After his victory at UFC 205 in New York City, Romero was all but promised a title shot against champion Michael Bisping, but he was forced to take a seat when UFC President Dana White announced this past March that Bisping would next be defending his title against returning former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

Since that announcement, little progress has been made towards making the fight official and White recently pulled the plug on the bout, saying that Bisping would fight Romero next instead. Ironically, “The Count” has now said that his knee injury is not healed and that he’ll be waiting till November for a showdown with St. Pierre.

With that being said, Romero took to his official Twitter account to announce that he’s moving past a bout with Bisping, saying that he’ll now focus his attention towards the next contender put in front of him:

As far as who he could fight next, Romero does indeed have some options. Despite his incredible win streak, he has yet to compete against the three contenders sitting behind him.

After losing his title in shocking fashion to Bisping at UFC 199 last June, No. 2-ranked former champion Luke Rockhold was scheduled to rematch Souza last November, but he was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering a knee injury. He has recently voiced his displeasure with the UFC’s matchmaking, but if he returns to full health in the near future, a bout between him and “The Solider of God” would make quite a bit of sense.

No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker is coming off of an upset stoppage victory over “Jacare” at UFC on FOX 24 in Kansas, City in which he established himself as a legitimate title threat in the division. The UFC could match up the 26-year-old Australian contender with Romero in what would be an exciting title eliminator bout.

Finally, No. 4-ranked former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi has recently hit his stride, scoring five consecutive victories, with four of those victories coming in impressive stoppage fashion. His most recent win, however, was a highly controversial one over Weidman at UFC 210 in Buffalo this past April. Either way, he remains a veteran of the sport and a bout between him and Romero would certainly pit two of the division’s very best against each other.

Of course, Romero should be rewarded the next 185-pound title shot if Bisping isn’t fighting St. Pierre, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the champion campaign hard for a ‘money fight’ with the Canadian star.

Who would you like to see “The Solider of God” take on next?

The post Yoel Romero Is Done Chasing Michael Bisping appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Luke Rockhold Destroys Dana White For Double Standard

Recently, Dana White had a harsh response for former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold’s demand that the stacked UFC 185-pound division receive some official clarity after the entire roster had been put on hold for the not-so-anticipated Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre title fight, which was supposed to take place sometime after October. The UFC granted

The post Luke Rockhold Destroys Dana White For Double Standard appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Recently, Dana White had a harsh response for former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold’s demand that the stacked UFC 185-pound division receive some official clarity after the entire roster had been put on hold for the not-so-anticipated Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre title fight, which was supposed to take place sometime after October.

The UFC granted that when White finally announced that Bisping vs. St-Pierre was off the table and “The Count” would taking on the real number one contender in surging Cuban wrestling specialist Yoel Romero. That seemed like what the rest of the middleweight division and a majority of the fans wanted, yet White seemed to take Rockhold’s request out of context when he fired back by  saying Rockhold had just been knocked out and didn’t deserve a title shot, comparing him to a welterweight who just earned one:

“Listen, I was thinking about this when I talked to some of the media here yesterday: A lot of the guys are talking about deserve, deserve, nobody deserves anything. You have to earn it here, you know what I’m saying?”

“These guys want to sit around, you got Rockhold screaming, “I deserve this…’ you got knocked out in the first round, you don’t deserve anything, you have to earn it and Maia earned it.”

Photo Credit: Jake Roth for USA TODAY Sports

While it’s true that Rockhold’s massive upset loss to Bisping in the main event of last June’s UFC 199 was the bout that set the division into its current state of upheaval, Rockhold was quick to respond that he didn’t say he deserved a title shot coming off of a loss.

All he wanted was a clear direction for the division, which could legitimately be described as one of the deepest in MMA right now; one that gave the many talented competitors in its ranks something definite to fight for. Having St-Pierre, who was of course the most dominant welterweight champion of all-time, fight for the middleweight belt coming off of a nearly four-year long layoff and never having fought in the division, wasn’t deserved in Rockhold’s mind:

White then responded to Rockhold, saying that while he never usually responded, St-Pierre never lost his belt, and it was a fight that both wanted (along with the fans, or so he said), so perhaps Rockhold should stick to fighting and leave the matchmaking up to the UFC:

There’s certainly no doubt that St-Pierre was and still is one of the company’s biggest stars and pay-per-view draws, so it’s really not that hard to imagine the UFC booking him in pretty much any fight he wants for his return, especially during a year so star-starved as 2017. It’s also hard to deny that his premature ‘return’ for a press conference announcing the bout in March was entirely too early with him planning on fighting in October or later, and that undoubtedly lead to the promotion being forced to cancel it in an effort to move the middleweight division along.

So while White may have a point or two, Rockhold didn’t specifically ask for a title shot, and it seems everyone is glad that Bisping will finally defend his title against a rightful number one contender.

The post Luke Rockhold Destroys Dana White For Double Standard appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.