Robert Whittaker News

Tom Taylor - June 22, 2018

Yoel Romero pushed himself into a state of extreme dehydration in an effort to make weight for his UFC 225 showdown with middleweight champ Robert Whittaker — but unfortunately, he still missed weight anyway. Amazingly, Romero showed no ill-effects of his brutal weight cut in the fight itself. In fact, he looked incredible, ultimately giving up a debatable, split decision to the champ.

Drake Riggs - June 14, 2018

UFC 225’s main event was an instant classic. It featured a rematch between two of the greatest middleweight fighters MMA has ever seen. The fighters competing in said main event were Yoel Romero and the UFC champion, Robert Whittaker. Unfortunately, after Romero missed the championship weight the day before by .02 pounds, the fight was changed to a non-title bout. But it didn’t stop the two from beating the hell out of one another.

Tom Taylor - June 12, 2018

Yoel Romero has now been compared to steel by two former opponents. The first man to compare Romero to steel was former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Now, reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has borrowed this metaphor, using it to describe the incredibly uncomfortable experience of fighting the Cuban behemoth. “This time, he felt like steel,” Whittaker told The Daily Telegraph of his second and most recent fight with Romero, which headlined the stacked UFC 225 last Saturday night. “I was punching and kicking him but it wasn’t doing any damage. He was walking forward through everything. It was weird.”

Tom Taylor - June 12, 2018

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker now holds two wins over fearsome middleweight contender Yoel Romero. Both, however, were competitive and truly thrilling fights. Given the close nature of the pair’s two fights — particularly the latter, which headlined UFC 225 last weekend — there’s been widespread chatter about a potential third fight between the two. Whittaker, however, isn’t so sure a third fight is necessary. The Australian champion addressed a potential trilogy fight with Romero on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the stacked UFC 225, middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and top middleweight contender Yoel Romero met for a second time — though Romero was not eligible to win the title due to a slight weigh-in miss. The pair’s main event showdown would go down as one of the very best fights of the year, complete with several near-stoppages, and some truly incredible momentum shifts. In the end, Whittaker would win this bout with a somewhat controversial split decision, moving to 2-0 over the fearsome Cuban in the process. That being said, there are really no losers in a war of this kind, which truly riveted the MMA community from beginning to end.

Chris Taylor - June 9, 2018

A middleweight rematch between current division champion Robert Whittaker and top contender Yoel Romero served as the headliner of tonight’s UFC 225 pay-per-view event in Chicago. Unfortunately for fight fans, Yoel Romero missed weight by a mere .2 lbs on Friday and thus tonight’s UFC 225 main event was no longer for Robert Whittaker’s coveted middleweight championship.

Drake Riggs - June 8, 2018

In today’s MMA world, the excitement or…disappointment often starts with the weigh-ins. And today was no different. Initially, one half of the main event’s title fight rematch, Yoel Romero weighed in at 186 pounds which is one pound over the 185 pound middleweight limit for championship fights.

Tom Taylor - June 8, 2018

In the opinion of former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre, current UFC middleweight Robert Whittaker is the perfect ambassador for the sport of MMA. The Canadian MMA legend gave his take on the Australian champion in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. “He’s a great example and a perfect role model for the sport of mixed martial arts – and you cannot have a better ambassador for the sport,” St-Pierre said. “You guys have the dream guy coming from Australia to represent you.”

Tom Taylor - June 4, 2018

When former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping announced his retirement late last month, he closed the door on a number of exciting potential matchups. There’s the fight between Bisping and his rival Yoel Romero, which we never got to see. There’s the much discussed trilogy fight between Bisping and Luke Rockhold, who are tied 1-1 across to fights. There are other fights between Bisping and stars like Lyoto Machida, Chris Weidman and Jacare Souza. And then, of course, there’s the potential fight between Bisping and the reigning UFC middleweight king, Robert Whittaker. Bisping and Whittaker looked destined to collide at several points throughout their respective careers. They were, of course, briefly scheduled to fight at UFC 193, until Bisping was forced out of the matchup an injury. Then, there was the short period during which Bisping was the undisputed middleweight champion and Whittaker was interim champion, when they also seemed to be on a collision course.

Justin Golightly - March 22, 2018

Flashback to UFC 221 and it’s hard to forget the weigh-in drama that kept most of us up late into the night trying to find out what was going to happen. Yoel Romero missed weight and Luke Rockhold entered into negotiations with the UFC, until finally deciding to move forward with the bout. Robert Whittaker, who was supposed to fight Rockhold that night, recently spoke up to say he wouldn’t have taken the fight with Romero that night. “Why would you [take that fight]? 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 [Yoel] Romero did – It was like 86 kilos or something like that – then why don’t I rock up at 95? 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.”

Justin Golightly - March 19, 2018

While it hasn’t been long since Robert Whittaker first defeated Yoel Romero at UFC 213, it seems like forever ago. A lot has went down, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. Whittaker still holds the UFC middleweight title and has been waiting to see the rightful challenger rise to meet him after his injury. It just happens to be Romero, who is expected to be just as if not more dangerous at UFC 225 than their last encounter. “[Yoel] Romero is a hard fight. It was a war the first time. It’s definitely up there as one of my hardest fights to date, one of the hardest fights mentally due to getting injured in the first round and having to get through it all. He’s such a tough competitor, he’s such a good athlete and such a good fighter.”

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2018

On March 10, BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor reported that UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and top contender Yoel Romero will rematch at UFC 225 on June 9 in Chicago, Illinois. Breaking! Per sources Yoel Romero vs Robert Whittaker 2 is a done deal for #UFC225. The title fight rematch is expected to serve as the main event in Chicago!

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

You know the Yoel Romero story by now: He missed weight, the fight went on, and he finished Luke Rockhold in spectacular fashion at UFC 221. it was a moment of glory that was only slightly blemished due to the percentage of his purse being taken and the fact that he wasn’t awarded an interim title. However, as Romero would say himself, ‘God is good all the time.’ While no official UFC announcements have dropped, our sources have confirmed Romero gets his title shot against Robert Whittaker at UFC 225 in Chicago on June 9th. Breaking! Per sources Yoel Romero vs Robert Whittaker 2 is a done deal for #UFC225. The title fight rematch is expected to serve as the main event in Chicago!

Justin Golightly - March 2, 2018

Israel Adesanya believes that destiny has been leading him to everywhere he’s been so far. Traveling the world becoming a master of styles finally resulted in him breaking into the UFC and marking his territory after his successful debut. Carrying on with his mystical journey, Adesanya doesn’t see any other location his pilgrimage takes him other than against Robert Whittaker for the UFC middleweight title. “With Robert [Whittaker], for whatever reason, he might lose the belt then gain it back, or I gain it and he tries to take it away from me in Spark Arena. But I just know me and him are gonna fight in Auckland by the end of 2019, and I just see the way we are because he’s good, I’m great. You know, it’s just gonna be for the belt. I’ve never met the guy. I’ve seen him across the room or across places, but I’ve never really had a word with him. It’s never anything personal, it’s just business, it’s just the game we’re in. He knows. It’s a fighter thing. When you look at each other and you just kind of have this potential of like, ‘Yeah, I see you, you see me’. It’s just a thing.”

Tom Taylor - February 25, 2018

When Yoel Romero knocked out Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 221, he earned himself a rematch with reigning middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. While some fans felt Romero didn’t deserve this opportunity on the basis of his weigh-in flub, UFC President Dana White confirmed the plan was indeed a Whittaker-Romero rematch. While we have known this rematch is the plan for a few weeks, the date and venue of the rematch have remained nebulous. Whittaker is hoping he can fix that.

Justin Golightly - February 24, 2018

After Yoel Romero took out Luke Rockhold at UFC 221, there was no doubt that he deserved a title shot. Although, some did criticize the decision by the UFC to still award Romero with a chance at the belt after he missed weight. Former UFC fighter Jay Hieron was recently asked about the scenario and says Romero was already punished and no one else is as deserving. “[Yoel Romero] got penalized. He’s not all happy right now. He got 30-percent of his purse taken, which is a lot. He has the belt – on his own stomach, in his own house right now, he could be interim belt champion, which he’s not. He’s penalized. But you go out and put a performance on like that, you can’t argue that. He should definitely get the shot. I get it. You’re in a different country. You’re in a totally different time frame. You’ve retained water, so it’s already not going as planned. I get it. He probably thought he could make weight.”

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

Just four days ago, Yoel Romero overcame the drama of a suspenseful weigh-in ordeal and rose to the occasion in the main event of UFC 221. He shut down former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and finished him with an uppercut that looked like it was removed from Mortal Kombat. It’s not surprise that current champion Robert Whittaker was watching this fight and keeping an eye on who could be his next opponent. However, he didn’t just watch it, he absolutely dissected it. “[Yoel Romero] was mentioning a back injury earlier, so we can’t be sure if it was the back injury that’s what prevented him from doing his usual explosive, unorthodox movement patters, or it was a gameplan because it worked so well. He stood at perfect range for [Luke] Rockhold, he predicted all his strikes, all his combos. When Rockhold couldn’t kick – cause he always leads the kick, or tries to, doesn’t really set up his kicks too well – he’d check it. When Rockhold would work with his combos – no more than two or three – he’d block him. Then he’d just explode moving forward, landing punches, not overextending too much.”

Justin Golightly - February 14, 2018

Everyone is still talking about Yoel Romero’s finish — and his post-fight kiss — of Luke Rockhold from UFC 221. Despite missing weight, the consensus seems that he’ll still get the title shot against Robert Whittaker. After already being fined and losing out on a win bonus, he has been punished and did win the fight. It’s hard to argue who else would be deserving of a shot, but former champion Chris Weidman thinks it is him. Michael Bisping had a chuckle over it and broke down the fight he believes the UFC will do. “You know what’s funny? Chris Weidman, he’s saying that he should get a title shot. I think that’s kind of laughable, Chris. I don’t want to get into a whole beef with Chris Weidman, but you did get knocked out in three of your last four fights. I don’t think that makes you eligible for a title shot. I don’t think he has any case to get a title shot. I think the correct fight — and Dana [White] has announced — [is] Yoel Romero versus Robert Whittaker. I think that’s going to be a different fight. That fight was only six months ago, something like that.