UFC 225: Whittaker vs. Romero 2

Date: Saturday, June 9th
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass): 23:15 LP.net / 3:15pm PST / 6:15pm EST
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1): 1:00 LP.net / 5pm PST / 8pm EST
Main Card (PPV): 3:00 LP.net / 7pm PST / 10pm EST
Live Streams: http://www.fìrstrow.eu/




Main Card (PPV)

Robert Whittaker (19-4) vs. Yoel Romero (13-2) (Middleweight)
Rafael dos Anjos (28-9) vs. Colby Covington (13-1) (Welterweight)
Holly Holm (11-4) vs. Megan Anderson (8-2) (Women's Featherweight)
Andrei Arlovski (27-15) vs. Tai Tuivasa (7-0) (Heavyweight)
CM Punk (0-1) vs. Mike Jackson (0-1) (Welterweight)

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)

Alistair Overeem (43-16) vs. Curtis Blaydes (9-1) (Heavyweight)
Claudia Gadelha (15-3) vs. Carla Esparza (13-4) (Women's Strawweight)
Ricardo Lamas (18-6) vs. Mirsad Bektic (12-1) (Featherweight)
Rashad Coulter (8-3) vs. Chris de la Rocha (4-2) (Heavyweight)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Rashad Evans (19-7-1) vs. Anthony Smith (28-13) (Light Heavyweight)
Joseph Benavidez (25-4) vs. Sergio Pettis (16-3) (Flyweight)
Clay Guida (34-17) vs. Charles Oliveira (22-8) (Lightweight)
Mike Santiago (20-11) vs. Dan Ige (8-2) (Featherweight)

Other

- Rashad Coulter was scheduled to face Allen Crowder at the event. However, on May 12, 2018, it was announced that Chris de la Rocha has replaced Crowder for undisclosed reasons.
- Bobby Green was scheduled to face Clay Guida at the event. However, on May 29, 2018, it was announced that Charles Oliveira has replaced Green for unspecific reasons.

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First impression of the match-ups:

• Whittaker > Romero
• RDA vs. Covington (dunno)
• Anderson > Holm
• Arlovski > Tuivasa
• Punk vs. Jackson (dunno)
• Blaydes > Overeem
• Gadelha > Esparza
• Lamas > Bektic
• Coulter vs. Rocha (dunno)
• Smith > Evans
• Benavidez > Pettis
• Guida > Oliveira
• Santiago > Ige

Overeem in the preliminaries and Rashad in the fight pass prelims... damn

On June 04 2018 22:34 Baalim wrote: Overeem in the preliminaries and Rashad in the fight pass prelims... damn

Benavidez & Baby Pettis in fight pass as well, they have to put in CM Punk in the main card as he brings shittons of views tho


It's very weird that they put Pettis against Benavidez, Pettis lost to Cejudo, while Benavidez absolutely destroyed him, but then again flyweight doesn't have too many options in top5

After rewatching Covington's fight with Maia, I don't think he has much to offer against RDA.
He seems to have gassed by the third round and RDA is gonna put way more pressure than Maia.
Also, RDA is a better striker and Colby has pretty much only an overhand left.
I see Colby getting really frustrated unable to land any takedowns or not doing much damage after a takedown and then RDA picking him apart after the second round.

I re-watched some tape last night and liked what I saw from Colby. I think most people are overlooking his skill set, size, strength, and wrestling advantage. RDA will have the striking advantage, but Colby's striking is improving in each fight.

I already have a bet on Colby @ +100.

On June 04 2018 22:34 Baalim wrote: Overeem in the preliminaries and Rashad in the fight pass prelims... damn

tbh i feel like that reem fight is worth watching more than at least 2 of those main event fights tho.

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• CM Punk is from Chicago, Illinois.
• Curtis Blaydes is from Chicago, Illinois.
• Ricardo Lamas is from Chicago, Illinois.
• Mike Santiago is from Illinois, and trains with Ricardo Lamas.
• Clay Guida is from Illinois.

Wait... was that Benavidez who faced off Pettis???? That blonde guy? Did he dye his hair and lose 15kg?

On June 07 2018 21:02 Spitfiree wrote: Wait... was that Benavidez who faced off Pettis???? That blonde guy? Did he dye his hair and lose 15kg?

He is cutting weight. He always looks like shit when he cuts weight.

post USADA middleweight is garbage

Awesome card

Yoel "Soldier of Tiramisu" Romero!

Robert Whittaker (185) vs. Yoel Romero (185.2*)
Rafael dos Anjos (169) vs. Colby Covington (169)
Holly Holm (146) vs. Megan Anderson (146)
Andrei Arlovski (249) vs. Tai Tuivasa (261)
CM Punk (169) vs. Mike Jackson (170.5)
Alistair Overeem (244) vs. Curtis Blaydes (254)
Claudia Gadelha (116) vs. Carla Esparza (116)
Ricardo Lamas (145) vs. Mirsad Bektic (146)
Rashad Coulter (247) vs. Chris de la Rocha (261)
Rashad Evans (205) vs. Anthony Smith (206)
Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Sergio Pettis (126)
Charles Oliveira (155) vs. Clay Guida (154)
Mike Santiago (145) vs. Dan Ige (146)


I expect Romero to be at or near his best tomorrow.

I believe the information provided that he didn't have the full amount of time with his two guys to help him cut the weight properly, as well as the Illinois commission stopping his extended weight cut time in half.

I didn't originally plan to bet Romero, and I still don't plan to, but it's not because I think he'll be weakened tomorrow by his weight cut.

I'll be at this one live. Thank god the card is stacked it'll suck a lot of the main fight gets pulled cause of missing weight.

On June 09 2018 03:22 K40Cheddar wrote: I'll be at this one live. Thank god the card is stacked it'll suck a lot of the main fight gets pulled cause of missing weight.

Have fun!

It should be entertaining.

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Final picks:

• Whittaker > Romero
• Covington > RDA
• Anderson > Holm
• Tuivasa > Arlovski
• Punk > Jackson
• Blaydes > Overeem
• Gadelha > Esparza
• Bektic > Lamas
• Coulter > Rocha
• Smith > Evans
• Benavidez > Pettis
• Oliveira > Guida
• Santiago > Ige

I was right on Oliveira, but I faded Ige at the last minute... Oh well.

R1: Pettis
R2: Benavidez
R3: Benavidez (clear round for Benavidez; Pettis gave the fight away by being inactive)

Joseph Benavidez 2-1, imo.

I mean seriously... That knee was there for like 10 seconds and Rashad kept his head there... what an idiot.

Easier win for Anthony Smith than I expected.

i don't understand the massive booing of Claudia. She put on an amazing fight and i agreed with the decision.

R1 was clear claudia
R3 was clear Carla
R2 was the decisive round. In my opinion Claudia won it.

MMA media agrees with me: http://www.mmadecisions.com/decision/9128/Cl%C3%A1udia-Gadelha-vs-Carla-Esparza

Its ok to disagree, but this was so disrespecfull. Wasn't a robbery for sure.

Poor Overeem...

It was a tough match-up for him, but he never turns down a fight.

Violent ending for Overeem

Sigh...

CM Punk lost the fight just by gassing early in Round 2. Jackson didn't even need to do much after that...

R1: Tuivasa (close round, but Tuivasa wins it cuz of the KD)
R2: Arlovski
R3: Arlovski (Tuivasa had one big combo in this round, but Arlovski recovered and came landing small 1-2 shot combos and bloodied Tuivasa's face)

Arlovski 2-1, imo.

R1: not sure because I was in the bathroom for 1/3 of it.
R2: Colby
R3: Colby
R4: Colby (close round though, but I give it to Colby toward the end)
R5: Colby

Colby Covington is your new Interim Welterweight Champion~

Rogan needs to get fired, hes so biased lately
Colby only stalled the whole fight

I would like to see Romero KO/TKO in Round 3.

Romero winning here would be the perfect story, as he would be the only person to not only miss weight for two title fights in a row, but he'd also be the only person to win two fights in a row and not be given the title because he missed weight.

Also, it would be perfect for a trilogy fight at the end of the year.

Too bad Romero literally took the first two rounds off and did nothing.

Losing a split-decision like that sucks.

On June 10 2018 05:30 PuertoRican wrote: Too bad Romero literally took the first two rounds off and did nothing. Losing a split-decision like that sucks.

His strategy was next level. He wanted to let whitaker punch him enough to hopefully break his hand, and then get a KO while still fully fresh against a whitaker with 1 hand!

R1 2 and 4 were pretty clearly for Whittaker... unless someone gave Romero 10-8 @ R5 I dont see another reason to be a draw, eventhough it would be a very well deserved 10-8... Either way how the fuck do you score the fight for Romero??? Its a draw or decision @ Whittaker ... R3 is definitely not a 10-8 for Romero EVER, plus R5 Romero just did nothing the last 2minutes of the round

super deserved win by Whittaker imo, especially considering he fought 1 handed agaisnt the guy that only has to touch you once correctly.

This in no way was a robbery, It was a close fight, even the 3rd round could arguably be just a 10-9 round given that Whittaker landed a hard elbow and the hardest hit of the fight, that freaking baseball bat to the dome that I'm still in shock that Romero ate like nothing.

1 and 2 Whittaker but no damage, round 3 Whittaker got KD, round 4 Romero clearly, Whittaker almost got KD even did the chicken dance, round 5 clearly 10-8 even in the old rules
its so stupid to score round 1 and 2 for Whittaker with the same weight as round 5 for Romero

what do you mean R4 Romero clearly? I just rewatched it and Whittaker was the only one that had any clean shots up until the dick kick, Romero had time to rest a bit there so he managed to land some shots afterwards but Whittaker was still controlling the round till the last 20s where Romero landed 2 nasty shots but not nearly enough to steal the round.

R1 - 10-9 Whittaker
R2 - 10-9 Whittaker
R3 - 10-9 Romero - Yes, Romero landed a huge shot but Whittaker managed to fight back and probably did more damage with the elbows so I don't see any reason to go 10-8 here
R4 - 10-9 Whittaker
R5 - 10-8 Romero

So yeah 47-47 sounds reasonable .. yeah theoretically R5 coulda been 10-7 Romero but cmon.. nobody s gonna score it 10-7 ever. The media that scored it 46-48 Romero are just bonkers

R3 10-9 and 10-8 are reasonable
R4 10-9 or 10-10 are reasonable
R5 10-9 and 10-8 are reasonable

This gives enough room to have widely different scorecards I dont think this was a robbery or anybody was bonkers

On June 11 2018 21:06 Baalim wrote: R3 10-9 and 10-8 are reasonable R4 10-9 or 10-10 are reasonable R5 10-9 and 10-8 are reasonable This gives enough room to have widely different scorecards I dont think this was a robbery or anybody was bonkers

I disagree with 10-10 for R4 being reasonable. it was 34 SS vs 20 SS. 10-10 is extremely rarely scored and this definetly isn't an example of a round that should be the exception to the rule.

I might need to rewatch round 3, but i think that theres tons of much worse rounds that happen all the time that don't get scored 10-8.

Round 5 is the round that could be a 10-8 imo.

On June 10 2018 18:04 Spitfiree wrote: R1 2 and 4 were pretty clearly for Whittaker... unless someone gave Romero 10-8 @ R5 I dont see another reason to be a draw, eventhough it would be a very well deserved 10-8... Either way how the fuck do you score the fight for Romero??? Its a draw or decision @ Whittaker ... R3 is definitely not a 10-8 for Romero EVER, plus R5 Romero just did nothing the last 2minutes of the round super deserved win by Whittaker imo, especially considering he fought 1 handed agaisnt the guy that only has to touch you once correctly.

Well said, agreed with everything.