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Main card
Middleweight (Non-Title): Robert Whittaker def. Yoel Romero via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47).
Interim Welterweight Championship: Colby Covington def. Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to become the new UFC Interim-Welterweight Championship
Women’s Featherweight: Holly Holm def. Megan Anderson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa def. Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Mike Jackson def. CM Punk via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Prelims
Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes def. Alistair Overeem via TKO (elbows) 2:56, R3
Women’s Strawweight: Claudia Gadelha def. Carla Esparza via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Featherweight: Mirsad Bektic def. Ricardo Lamas via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Heavyweight: Chris del la Rocha def. Rashad Coulter vis TKO (punches) 3:23, R2
Early prelims
Light Heavyweight: Anthony Smith def. Rashad Evans via knockout (knee) 0:53, R1
Flyweight: Sergio Pettis def. Joseph Benavidez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Lightweight: Charles Oliveira def. Clay Guida via submission (guillotine choke) 2:18, R1
Featherweight: Dan Ige def. Mike Santiago via TKO (punches) 0:50, R1
Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will take on #1 Yoel Romero in a rematch. Join The Roar from 12pm AEST for live commentary and round-by-round action.
It’s been just under a year since Robert Whittaker won the belt and his first defence was set to come against the man he beat to get it.
However duel to Yoel Romero missing weight, Whittaker will remain champion regardless of the result.
Romero also missed weight the first time him and Whittaker fought, making him the first man in UFC history to miss weight in back-to-back title fights.
In the end Romero could only get his weight down to just 90 grams above the limit.
Nevertheless the fight will still happen, just not for the belt.
In the first bout Whittaker started off slowly against Yoel Romero losing the first two rounds. Things got worse when he injured his foot mid-fight.
However the Aussie rallied and pressed Romero, winning the last three rounds to win the interim title.
He was later promoted to champion when George St-Pierre vacated the middleweight title.
Since moving up to middleweight in 2014 Whittaker has looked unstoppable. He’s unbeaten at the weight class and is riding an eight-fight win streak.
He also now sits at 13th on the pound-for-pound rankings, the highest any Australian fighter as achieved.
When Whittaker pulled out of the UFC 221 main event against Luke Rockhold it was Yoel Romero that stepped up and took his place.
He entered as the underdog but 41-year-old Romero still managed to knock Rockhold out cold in the third-round.
Before his loss to Whittaker, Romero was on an eight-fight winning streak.
Seven of those were knockouts over the some of the best fighters the division has seen, such as Derek Brunson, Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo Souza and Chris Weidman.
In the co-main event Rafael dos Anjos will be looking to become one of the few men who has won a title in different classes when he faces Colby Covington.
Dos Anjos was one of the most dominant fighters in lightweight history and has made his mark on the welterweight division well.
In his first three welterweight bouts he’s beaten Tarec Saffiedine, Neil Magny and former-champ Robbie Lawler.
Covington’s brash personality has taken the UFC by storm and he has seemed to rub almost everyone in the company the wrong way with his trash talk.
He has however managed to talk himself into a title fight and if he wins he will silence a lot of his critics.
Covington is 13-1 and riding a five-fight win streak. His biggest win came via decision over Demian Maia last October.
Predictions
Romero is dangerous and explosive, but gets tired as the fight drags on.
If Whittaker can do what he did in the first fight and survive early before picking up the pace, he should beat Romero for a second time.
Robert Whittaker to defeat Yoel Romero via unanimous decision.
Dos Anjos is one of the best the UFC has ever seen and has a chance to make history.
Both him and Covington are aggressive but the latter seems to have the psychological edge in what has become a personal fight.
However, dos Anjos is a lot better on the ground and if he can stay calm and stick to the game plan, he can leave the octagon as a two-time UFC champion.
Rafael dos Anjos to defeat Colby Covington via submission in round two.
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