In our main event of the evening, No. 1-ranked Yoel Romero and No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker compete for the interim middleweight championship. You can check out how it all went down here:
Round 1:
Whittaker lands the first shot of the night with a nice straight right hand. Whittaker pops a hard jab to Romero’s face and the Cuban responds with a bit takedown. Romero tries to take the back but Whittaker defends well and disengages. Romero darts in with a flying knee and goes for a takedown on his way down from mid-air. He isn’t able to get Whittaker down but instead pressures him against the cage. Whittaker breaks free and fires some front body kicks at Romero to keep him at bay. Whittaker lands a nice left hook and Romero comes in on a takedown but is unable to finish it. The round ends with a nice high-kick landing for Whittaker.
Round 2:
A high right kick lands for Whittaker to open the round followed by a left hook. Whittaker over extends on a throw and Romero takes advantage and takes him down. Whittaker holds on extremely tight to prevent Romero from doing anything but that leads to a scramble that gets Romero in back clinch control. Whittaker turns around but Romero only pressures him against the fence for a few minutes before the referee breaks it up. Whittaker throws a hook that lands but over extends on his next shots and Romero has him clinched against the cage again. The round comes to an end with Romero throwing Whittaker down for a takedown.
Round 3:
Romero gets shut down on a takedown attempt again and eats a hard front kick to the face. Whittaker clips Romero against the cage and he falls down for a breif moment but is able to get back up and circle. A hard front kick to Romero’s hip sends the Cuban back and Whittaker begins to unload on him against the fence. Romero circles out but Whittaker is able to land a nice right hand. Romero isn’t throwing much of anything, most likely in an attempt to conserve energy for the latter rounds. The round comes to an end with Whittaker landing a nice left hand.
Round 4:
Whittaker lands a huge right high-kick to Romero’s head and Romero shoots in on a takedown that causes a scramble. Whittaker darts for the cage but Romero is still on top of him. Whittaker gets up and lans a nice knee to Romero’s body in order to disengage. Another takedown attempt from Romero but Whittaker wiggles out yet again. Whittaker lands a great left hook and follows it up with a couple of front kicks to the body. A nice right hand lands for Whittaker and he follows it up with an uppercut just as Romero comes in for a takedown. He drops Romero, who pops back up, but Whittaker continues to land nice shots. Romero bolts in on a takedown but it’s stuffed yet again. The round closes with Whittaker falling over after Romero placed a great leg strike.
Round 5:
Whittaker lands a nice left hook to open the round and Romero ducks a huge high-kick. Whittaker unleashes a great combination on Romero but the Cuban responds with a big hook of his own. Whittaker continues to win the stand-up battle but both men are exhausted. Romero falls over and Whittaker falls on top of him. Whittaker throws a couple of nice elbows before getting half guard and landing some devastating elbows.The round ends with Whittaker on top and the pair stand up with their hands raised.
Official Result: Robert Whittaker def. Yoel Romero via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
