What an unholy mess.
UFC main event fights in pay-per-view events have been dropping like flies these past few months and UFC 225 is no different.
The main event at UFC 225 has been thrown into serious doubt after Cuban challenger Yoel Romero twice missed weight for his slated middleweight title fight with Robert Whittaker.
Romero needed to strip down naked on his first weigh-in attempt but tipped the scales at 186lbs [one pound over].
Given that he was competing for the UFC belt, he had to make ‘championship weight’ of 185lbs or under. Romero was granted two hours to see if he could lose that last pound but did not show up until 10 minutes before the cut-off point.
Looking significantly worst-for-wear, ‘The Soldier of God’ once again stripped down and weighed in behind a towel.
It was better but it still was not good enough – 185.2lbs.
Yoel pic.twitter.com/t4GBikddmC
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) June 8, 2018
No title fight for the main event but talks are ongoing about salvaging the fight. Whittaker, who is defending his belt, would be the only fighter capable of winning/retaining the title on the night if the fight goes ahead.
The event can remain a PPV, however, as UFC interim welterweight title contenders Rafael Dos Anjos and Colby Covington both made championship weight for their bout.
Whittaker, who claimed a unanimous decision over Romero last July, was asked earlier this week about the recent spate of missed weights among his UFC peers.
“I think you do have to get on with it and move on, that’s the inevitable outcome,” Whittaker told ESPN.
“But it makes me upset. It would make me upset if my opponent missed weight because I believe making weight is half the job; if you don’t make 84.5 [kilos, 186lbs] then we’re not in the same weight division. I don’t even know how that’s [missing weight] a thing?
“If we’re not the same weight, we’re not the same weight; we’re in different weight divisions. It’s ridiculous to think about it.”
In missing weight for UFC 225, Romero became the first fighter in the organisation’s history to come in heavy for more than one title fight as the Cuban wrestler weighed in at 187.7lbs for his interim title fight with Luke Rockhold in February.
Middleweight clearly isn’t for him…
More to follow…
