Robert Whittaker inflicts controversial defeat on Yoel Romero in rematch at UFC 225

Whittaker (21-4) won despite being outworked in the fifth. He was shaken after taking a hard left hand from Romero (13-3) early in the round, and the fight was scored 48-47 by all three judges, one in Romero’s favour.

Whittaker also injured his right hand in the first round.

The fight was in jeopardy when Romero missed weight at 185 pounds on Friday morning. Romero was one pound over in the first weigh-in, then 0.2 over in the second and final weigh-in. The fight was originally for the middleweight championship. The duo fought anyway, but without a belt on the line.

“It’s a long flight to Chicago. If I travel 22 hours, I’m fighting someone, mate,” said Whittaker, who is from New Zealand.

Romero was tentative in the first round, and Whittaker damaged his right eye in the second with a kick. Romero then exploded in the third, landing a left and bringing down the champ. Romero controlled the third round with a series of combinations, but Whittaker was able to land two significant kicks.

Whittaker kicked Romero below the belt in the fourth round, which put a halt to the fight for about a minute. Whittaker regained control in the fourth, but Romero landed a hard left and right late in the round. In the fifth, Romero controlled the round, bring down Whittaker with a series of left hands, then pounded him with a right hand.

At UFC 213, Whittaker gutted out a gruelling 25-minute brawl against Romero with all three judges scoring it 48-47.