UFC 225 – After the Final Bell

When Yoel Romero failed to make weight, yet again, the wind basically left the sails for UFC 225. The middleweight main event would go on, but the title would no longer be on the line. A massive let down for the title’s historic lineage and a consolation prize for fight fans. Despite massively disappointing Pay-Per-View numbers, UFC 225 turned out to be pretty damn good despite its problems.

Whittaker Edges Romero in Rematch

In their first meeting, Robert Whittaker suffered MCL damage in his knee due to a Yoel Romero kick early in the first round. He displayed tremendous toughness and battled off numerous takedowns from the masterful Cuban olympic wrestler. Despite severely impaired function in his leg, Whittaker was still able to use his speed advantage to keep his opponent at a distance and mitigate Romero’s striking power and substantial grappling acumen. After a close and competitive bout, all three judges scored the fight for Whittaker, making him the first ever New Zealand born fighter to hold UFC gold.

If the first fight wasn’t close enough, middleweights (C) Robert Whittaker and (#1) Yoel Romero had significantly more drama when they ran it back on Saturday night. This time around it was Whittaker utilizing the very strike that injured him in the first fight to return the favor to Romero early in the rematch. The strategy proved to be effective and just. Romero had a tough time defending the kick from the outset and his movement was compromised as the minutes began to add up on the clock.

By the start of the third round, Whittaker was winning comfortably and Romero appeared to be running out steam while he looked for a counter strike that was never really there. However, during a series of ill advised close quarter exchanges, Romero landed a devastating right hand that nearly put Whittaker out. Keenly aware of the situation, he pounced on the fallen champ and swarmed with strikes, looking to get the finish. However, displaying incredible heart, the New Zealander fought to get back to his feet and and cracked Romero with some good elbows from the clinch. Midway through the contest, a great fight had broken out.

Starting the championship rounds, momentum had clearly swung in Romero’s favor, but Whittaker used the time on his stool to regroup and reassert his gameplan. A noticeably gassed Romero was on the wrong end of a low blow and used the opportunity to catch some wind. He stayed aggressive after the restart, but Whittaker had regained control of the bout and was clearly the fresher of the two fighters. As the final round began, Whittaker kept his distance with kicks and jabs, disguising a broken right hand. To Romero’s credit, he waded through the fire and landed a big left hook that dropped the champ again. Whittaker looked to be in serious danger of a stoppage, but never kept pushing and found himself defending takedown attempts rather than strikes from his opponent. His incredible takedown defense kept Romero out of dominant positions and using energy in the wrong places. As the final bell rang, both men celebrated and rightfully so.

Whittaker took the hotly contested split decision decision (48-47 twice, 48-47 Romero) but the bout could have easily been a draw, it not a Romero victory. The defending champ now has two consecutive wins over his rival and a third bout seems unlikely. Romero is 41 and doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch even if he is the clear #1 contender. Whittaker needs time to repair his hand, but (#4) Kelvin Gastelum should be the next title challenger while former champs (#2) Luke Rockhold and (#3) Chris Weidman settle their score in a title eliminator.

Covington Walks the Walk V. Dos Anjos

Somehow Colby Covington, a guy with only one top-10 win, talked himself into an interim welterweight title shot and walked away with UFC gold. After defeating veteran grappling ace and former title challenger (#7) Demian Maia, he set his sights on the current welterweight king, Tyron Woodley. That fight didn’t materialize, partly because Covington didn’t really have the resume to get that opportunity and Woodley needed surgery. However, fortune favors the bold and the Clovis, CA native got his crack at the interim strap thanks a trash talking campaign of grand design…including shots at UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

His opponent, Rafael Dos Anjos was in the middle of rewriting his own story, moving up in weight from his former perch atop the heap at 155-lbs to chase the dream of becoming only the fifth man to ever win titles in two seperate weight classes. His win over a former champ and legend, Robbie Lawler, made his welterweight stock skyrocket and put him on the short list to challenge Woodley. The rest of the story is told in blood and sweat.

RDA looked pretty good early, getting the better of the striking exchanges with Covington but needing a good bit of volume to keep the “Chaos” off of him. After the first round, the pace began to wear on Dos Anjos and Covington had comfortably tasted the Brazilian’s power with little-to-no lingering side effects. The American continued the relentless pressure, slowly grinding away, using a combination of forward pressure, takedowns and clinch work. The naturally smaller man, Dos Anjos fought well but simply wasn’t able to do enough to keep Covington off of him.

Covington looked better than ever and the judges scored it unanimously for him (49-46, 48-47 twice). This sets up the 170-lb unification title bout with Woodley that Covington has been asking for all along. Should Woodley not be ready soon enough, (#2) Darren Till, fresh off his win over former two-time title challenger (#4) Stephen Thompson, would make for an interesting fight. RDA has less options. He could get Till, or (#6) Kamaru Usman, who recently got his highest profile victory over Maia.

Holm Welcomes Anderson to the Big League

Let’s face it, the UFC Women’s Featherweight “Division” is a total sham. It has no rankings and, even if I’m being generous, it only has four fighters. Germaine de Randamie won the title (with the help of multiple illegal strikes after two rounds that went unpenalized) against Holly Holm, who had moved up in weight, then vacated the belt and refused to fight Cris Cyborg, who the company brought in to build the division around. Enter Megan Anderson, kinda. She was slated to fight Cyborg for the vacant title but withdrew from the bout citing personal issues. Tonya Evinger moved up in weight to take the fight and acquitted herself well but succumbed to knees in the third round and Cyborg was crowned champ. Always the consummate pro, Holm stayed at 145-lbs and took the title opportunity. Holly would lose the fight by unanimous decision, but both fighters proved to be their opponent’s toughest competition. Cyborg went on to defend her belt via first round TKO against another opponent coming up in weight on short notice, the Invicta 135-lb champ, Yana Kunitskaya.

Standing across the cage from Holm on Saturday, Anderson looked the part…prompting Joe Rogan to liken her to a creature from Avatar. She blasted Holly with a big knee early, but it didn’t end the fight or wither the former champ. Instead, Holm used it to initiate the clinch and eventual takedown. Once the fight hit the ground, Anderson was completely lost. Holm isn’t known as a dominant grappler, but she’s proven herself to be a competent one. The cycle repeated itself for three rounds, Anderson looking for a big shot only to get put on her back where she couldn’t do much.

Holm earned the easy unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-26 twice). After the fight she expressed desire to return to 135-lbs and reclaim the title she lost. Current women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes recently defended that very title and will be ready to fight on a similar schedule. Anderson may get a title shot versus Cyborg anyway, since there isn’t much else the UFC can offer in that division short of forcing Nunes into a “super-fight” where she is severely out-gunned. I don’t mean to besmirch “the Lioness”, but after her fight with (#4) Raquel Pennington, I don’t think the Cyborg fight is a good idea.

Tuivasa Out Duels Arlovski

This wasn’t a great fight and probably shouldn’t have been on the main card. (#9) Andrei Arlovski took on (#12) Tai Tuivasa in a heavyweight gatekeeper’s bout. It’s no secret Arlovski’s best days are behind him, but he has had a remarkable late career resurgence nonetheless. He lacks the ferocious finishing style that made him a UFC champ over a decade ago but has remained a skilled tactician. Unfortunately for him, the division has moved on. Both men struggled to land significant strikes, but Tuivasa had the higher connect percentage and landed the bigger shots.

Tuivasa improved to 10-0 and would make a great dance partner for (#6) Mark Hunt in a battle between Australia and New Zealand. Arlovski has lost 6 of his last 8 fights and is rapidly approaching 40-years-old. The dude can still fight but he’s the gatekeeper now if he wants to continue.

Jackson Demolished Punk

This was a no brainer. The UFC used Phil Brooks, aka “CM Punk”, to sell some tickets and kick off a PPV once again. His opponent, Mike Jackson, made sure the former-WWE star seriously reconsidered his career choice. The fight wasn’t close, it was a one-sided ass kicking with Brooks on the receiving end. Jackson coasted while still doing a lot of damage, only to be demonized by UFC President Dana White for not hurting “Punk” worse.

Jackson won easily, all three judges scoring it 30-26, but very generous for Punk. It’s likely that neither man will every fight for the promotion again.

***Undercard Fights of Note***

• (#2) Curtis Blaydes trades rankings with (#4) Alistair Overeem via third round TKO. Blaydes showed that he is no joke in the heavyweight division. The champ, Stipe Miocic, is currently tied up but a showdown with (#3) Alexander Volkov makes sense.
• (#7) Misrad Bektic improved to 13-1 via split decision over (#11) Ricardo Lamas, swap rankings with one another. Bektic should either get (#6) Josh Emmett or (#3) Frankie Edgar next. Lamas would make an interesting test for (#12) Zabit Magomedsharipov.
• (#4) Strawweight Claudia Gadelha outpoints (#6) Carla Esparza. We didn’t learn much about either of these women in this bout, other than the crowd didn’t enjoy it.
• Rashad Evans gets obliterated in under a minute by Anthony Smith. The former light heavyweight champion never got going and ate knee that put him to sleep. Evans needs to see the writing on the wall. He’s lost 7 of his last 9, including 5 straight.
• (#2) Sergio Pettis becomes only second man to defeat (#3) Joseph Benavidez. Pettis earned a hard fought split decision win over the former two-time title challenger. Benavidez had spent almost his whole career as the second best flyweight in the world, but all good things come to an end. Pettis becomes the most appealing contender for flyweight kingpin Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Benavidez should take on (#4) Ray Borg once he’s ready to go.
• Charles Oliveira spoiled Clay Guida’s homecoming and tied Hall of Famer Royce Gracie for most submission wins in UFC history. Guida has always struggled with talented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and Saturday was no different. Guida got hurt with a right hand and looked for a takedown, but jumped into Oliveira’s waiting grasp. The fight ended via guillotine choke in round one.

Up Next…UFC Fight Night 132