CUBAN Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero defeated American Luke Rockhold in their main event at “UFC 221” in Perth, Australia, yesterday but came out sans the interim middleweight title after missing weight just as American Curtis “Razor” Blades silenced a partisan crowd with a unanimous decision victory over hometown bet Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt in the co-featured fight.
Originally set as a clash for the interim title in middleweight, Mr. Romero missed out on the opportunity to have a belt wrapped around his waist after failing to meet the 185-lb. limit during official weigh-ins.
In his first try, Mr. Romero came in at 188 lbs. and after a two-hour period for his second try was only able to come in at 187.7 lbs. that all but doomed his chances for the interim belt.
But despite fighting a “regular” fight, it did not deter Mr. Romero from proving his worth in the division, dominating and eventually putting the lights out on former champion Rockhold.
Following a feeling-out period in the first round, Mr. Romero just exploded in the second and third rounds.
Mr. Romero caught Mr. Rockhold with a solid right hand and jabs early on in the second round before the latter found his footing anew and got some payback as the round drew to a close.
In the third round the two fighters engaged right away. Seeing an opening Mr. Romero unleashed a powerful left hand from the top, sending Mr. Rockhold out cold down the canvas.
For good measure Mr. Romero followed it up with another left before the referee stopped the contest at the 1:48 mark of the third.
Despite the win, Mr. Romero expressed regret not being able to get his hands on the interim title.
“I’m so sorry for the weight cut being so bad for me. That was the first time in my career I couldn’t get down,” said Mr. Romero, who improved to 13-2 after the win.
Mr. Rockhold, for his part, slumped to 16-4 and his second defeat in his last three fights.
Currently holding the UFC middleweight title is Robert Whittaker, who would have faced Mr. Romero anew in a possible unification bout had the latter made the cut.
THREE-FIGHT WINNING STREAK
Meanwhile in the co-main event, Mr. Blaydes (9-1) stretched his current winning streak to three by getting the better of Mr. Hunt (13-12-1) by unanimous decision, 30-26, 30-26 and 29-27.
Got hurt in the early goings of their scheduled three-rounder, Chicago native Blaydes adjusted accordingly as the fight progressed, got it going and stepped up in the next two rounds to book and leave his imprint which did not go unnoticed to the judges as they went for him after the smoke cleared.
After surviving the solid punches of Mr. Hunt in the first round, Mr. Blaydes came out aggressive in the second with a steady ground and pound and never relent after.
In the third round, Mr. Blaydes went for takedowns right away. Mr. Hunt tried to get back on his feet and briefly managed to a couple of times before the American dragged him down again one last time. Relying on his crafty wrestling skills, Mr. Blaydes just dictated the pace on the ground the rest of the way en route to the victory.
“He (Hunt) came the way I expected him to. I just calmed down and went for the ground and pound,” said Mr. Blaydes amid the boos from the Australian crowd.
“I understand that you are cheering for your hero. I came to win and I just did what I needed to do,” he added even as he expressed his desire to fight in his hometown of Chicago in his succeeding fights.
In other fights at UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold, heavyweight Tai Tuivasa beat Cyril Asker by technical knockout (punches and elbows) in the first round, welterweight Jake Matthews defeated Li Jingliang by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26 and 30-26), and light heavyweight Tyson Pedro submitted Saparbek Safarov in the opening round by way of kimura.
Next for the UFC is “UFC Fight Night 126” on Feb. 19 (Manila time) in Austin, Texas, that will be headlined by the welterweight clash between no. 11 contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Yancy Medeiros.
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct-to-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
