It wouldn’t be a big fight in the UFC without some weigh-in drama, would it?! On Friday afternoon, the MMA community waited on middleweight title contender Yoel Romero to hit the scales.
After missing weight in his interim title bout with Luke Rockhold, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to potentially expect issues here. The Cuban tipped the scales at 186lbs, which is one pound over the 185lbs championship limit. As per the rules, Romero was allowed an extra two hours to shed the weight, leaving a lot of people expectant of this becoming a reality.
Almost two hours later, Romero re-emerged and tipped the scales at 185.2lbs. The fight was later declared as a non-title, five-round main event. With two consecutive weight misses in title fights, will Yoel Romero be forced to move up to light heavyweight?
The fight goes ahead, with middleweight champion Robert Whittaker returning after an eleven-month layoff since he outpointed Romero back at UFC 213. The twenty-seven-year-old is currently on an eight-fight winning streak, dating back to a loss at welterweight to Stephen Thompson.
Whittaker is one of the most popular fighters in the sport, affectionately earning the nickname of ‘Bobby Knuckles’. He is unbeaten since moving to middleweight, with wins over Romero and Jacare Souza the biggest on his impressive résumé.
Fourteen years his senior is Yoel Romero. Originally a freestyle wrestler who represented Cuba in the 2000 Olympic Games, Romero also clinched multiple championships across the globe around the turn of the millennium, before transitioning in to mixed martial arts.
After debuting at thirty-two, Romero tore through the European scene before getting the call up to Strikeforce, losing on his debut to Rafael Cavalcante. After fighting at light heavyweight at this point, Romero moved down to middleweight, winning eight straight fights over the likes of Lyoto Machida, Jacare Souza and Chris Weidman before sliding to that loss to Robert Whittaker last year.
His devastating knockout of Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 in Australia earlier this year earned a rematch, despite also missing weight by almost two pounds on that occasion. Would a win see a trilogy fight arranged between the two, in the hope Romero makes weight?
There's no title on the line but the main event of #UFC225 is going ahead.
In the co-main event, Rafael dos Anjos looks to clinch the interim welterweight title against ever-popular wrestler Colby Covington.
After previously clinching the lightweight title against Anthony Pettis back in March 2015, the Brazilian moved up to welterweight following losses to Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson. Three consecutive wins followed, including a victory over Robbie Lawler and now the Brazilian is in the perfect position to challenge Tyron Woodley at 170lbs.
In his way is without a doubt the least popular man in the sport Colby Covington. Aside from being pretty good at fighting, Covington continues to irate fans on social media, labelling Brazilians as “filthy animals” as well as targeting the Star Wars fandom with spoilers and many more!
The community is holding out for a Dos Anjos win, but could Covington upset the odds and become the interim welterweight champion?
Former bantamweight champion and Ronda Rousey conqueror Holly Holm faces octagon newcomer and former Invicta featherweight queen Megan Anderson.
Holm has won just one of her last five bouts since defeating Rousey, with a spectacular head kick knockout of lower ranked bantamweight Bethe Correia. Anderson heads in to the fight after an impressive four-fight knockout streak earns her the octagon call up.
Unbeaten heavyweight knockout artist Tai Tuivasa takes on the divisional gatekeeper and veteran Andrei Arlovski in a not-to-be-missed heavyweight affair.
Former pro-wrestler turned mixed martial artist CM Punk takes on fellow winless welterweight Mike Jackson. With both men chasing their first victory in professional mixed martial arts… someone’s 0 has got to go!
The under-card in Chicago is stacked too, featuring the likes of Alistair Overeem taking on Curtis Blaydes, Mirsad Bektic taking on Ricardo Lamas and Claudia Gadelha taking on Carla Esparza.
The card gets underway at 23:15 in the UK on UFC Fight Pass, before moving to BT Sport at 01:00. If you’re making a night of it, settle in and enjoy the action!
Full Fight Card
Main Card (3AM on BT Sport)
Catchweight (186lbs): Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero
Interim Welterweight Championship: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington
Women’s Featherweight: Holly Holm vs. Megan Anderson
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski vs. Tai Tuivasa
Welterweight: CM Punk vs. Mike Jackson
Prelims (1AM on BT Sport)
Heavyweight: Alistair Overeem vs. Curtis Blaydes
Women’s Strawweight: Claudia Gadelha vs. Carla Esparza
Featherweight: Ricardo Lamas vs. Mirsad Bektic
Heavyweight: Rashad Coulter vs. Chris De La Rocha
Early Prelims (11:15PM on UFC Fight Pass)
Light Heavyweight: Rashad Evans vs. Anthony Smith
Flyweight: Sergio Pettis vs. Joseph Benavidez
Lightweight: Charles Oliveira vs. Clay Guida
Featherweight: Mike Santiago vs. Dan Ige
