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UFC 221: Yoel Romero vs Luke Rockhold live blog, round-by-round updates

11th February, 2018
Time: ‪2pm‬ (AEDT)
Venue: Perth Arena
Coverage: Live, Pay-Per-View
Betting: Romero $2.15, Rockhold $1.70
 
Scheduled bouts (three x 5-minute rounds, title bouts five x 5-minute rounds)
 
Interim Middleweight Championship:
#1 Yoel Romero (12-2) vs #2 Luke Rockhold (16-3)
 
Heavyweight: #5 Mark Hunt (13-11-1, 1NC) vs #9 Curtis Blaydes (8-1, 1NC)
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa (8-0) vs Cyril Asker (9-3)
Welterweight: Jake Matthews (12-3) vs Li Jingliang (14-4)
Heavyweight: #13 Tyson Pedro (6-1) vs Saparbek Safarov (8-1)
Luke Rockhold during an open workout for fans and media held at the UFC Gym on June 1, 2016 in Torrance, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
11th February, 2018
47

Result:

Yoel Romero defeated Luke Rockhold via knockout at UFC 221 after three rounds.

Full results
Interim Middleweight Title Bout: Yoel Romero def. Luke Rockhold via knockout (punches) 1:48, R3.
Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes def. Mark Hunt via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27).
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa def. Cyril Asker via TKO (punches & elbows) 2:18, R1.
Welterweight: Jake Matthews def. Li Jingliang via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-26).
Light Heavyweight: Tyson Pedro def. Saparbek Safarov via submission (kimura) 3:54, R1.
Lightweight: Dong Hyun Kim def. Damien Brown via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Middleweight: Israel Adesanya def. Rob Wilkinson via TKO (knees & punches) 3:37, R2.
Featherweight: Alexander Volkanovski def. Jeremy Kennedy via TKO (punches & elbows) 4:57, R2.
Flyweight: Jussier Formiga def. Ben Nguyen via technical submission (rear-naked choke) 1:43, R3.
Lightweight: Ross Pearson def. Mizuto Hirota via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Bantamweight: Jose Alberto Quinonez def. Teruto Ishihara via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Welterweight: Luke Jumeau def. Daichi Abe via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-27).

Preview:

Yoel Romero gets a second chance at UFC gold when he takes on former champion Luke Rockhold for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Join The Roar from 2pm (AEDT) for live commentary and round-by-round updates.

After Romero suffered a decisive decision loss against Robert Whittaker for the middleweight title, questions were raised about what the future held for the 40-year-old.

However, after Whittaker pulled out of UFC 221, he gets another chance at UFC gold and then, if he can get past Luke Rockhold, Whittaker.

Romero was in frightening form before his loss to Whittaker, winning eight in a row, including knockouts over former champions Lyoto Machida and Chris Weidman.

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As for Rockhold, after losing the middleweight title in devastating fashion against Michael Bisping, injuries kept him on the shelf for over a year, before his come back, last September, to take on David Branch.

Octagon-rust wasn’t a thing for Rockhold, as he breezed past Branch to earn a second-round knockout and an opportunity to get the title back.

In the co-main event, Mark Hunt returns to the cage after a lengthy absence to take on Curtis Blaydes.

A rocky relationship with the UFC has kept Hunt out of action for the past 18 months, however he has a chance to prove he’s still one of the world’s best heavyweights and get back in the title picture.

Prediction
Romero is violent, explosive and has fantastic wrestling. However his lack of stamina was his downfall against Whittaker.

Rockhold is intelligent and technically gifted. However, he’s been known to get overconfident and leave his hands low, which is why both his UFC losses came via knockout – although they were both spectacular.

If Rockhold can stay on the outside and pick Romero apart, while keeping a fast pace, he’ll become a two-time champion and go on to face Robert Whittaker.

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Luke Rockhold to defeat Yoel Romero via TKO in Round 4.

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