Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will crown a new middleweight champion — or hold on to its existing one — when Robert Whittaker defends his 185-pound title against top contender Yoel Romero, a rematch from their UFC 213 brouhaha which “The Reaper” won by unanimous decision.
That’s assuming everything goes according to plan.
A plan that includes “Soldier of God” making weight ahead of their UFC 225 main event headliner on Sat., June 9, 2018 inside United Center in Chicago, Illinois, something Romero failed to do against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 just last month.
It’s a deal breaker, according to Whittaker’s conversation with Submission Radio:
“I don’t understand anyone who takes fights when their opponent doesn’t make weight. It’s like, if you rock up at 87 kilos, which is what Romero did – It was like 86 kilos or something like that – then why don’t I rock up at 95 (kgs)? What’s the difference? We’re both not making weight, we’re both not professional enough to do it, you know? And the weight cut is directly influential to the fight itself. I think not making weight is the most unprofessional thing you can do. It’s as bad as just not showing up for the fight itself. So, if you don’t make weight, I’m not fighting you. I’ll give the shot to someone else who can make the weight, who can do their freaking job.”
You know what they say: Stool me once, shame on you ...
Whittaker (19-4) has been out of action since handling the Cuban last summer, thanks to a nasty Staph infection that spread to his stomach. Romero (13-2) returned to the Octagon with his destruction of Rockhold, but the scale fail cost him the interim title.
Not that it matters in “The Windy City.”
UFC 225 will also feature the heavyweight return of Alistair Overeem, as he tries to bang it out against streaking up-and-comer Curtis Blaydes. In addition, Carla Esparza settles her strawweight grudge match against former title contender Claudia Gadelha.
See the entire UFC 225 fight card and line up here.
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