UFC 221: Romero vs Rockhold Prediction and Info Thread

[tokeweed]

Date: Saturday, February 11th
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass): 11:30 BCT / 3:30pm PST / 6pm EST
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1): 1:00 BCT / 5pm PST / 8pm EST
Main Card (PPV): 4:00 BCT / 6pm PST / 10pm EST
Live Streams: http://www.fìrstrow.eu/




Main Card (PPV)

Yoel Romero (12-2) vs. Luke Rockhold (16-3) (Middleweight Championship)
Mark Hunt (13-11-1) vs. Curtis Blaydes (8-1) (Heavyweight)
Tai Tuivasa (6-0) vs. Cyril Asker (9-3) (Heavyweight)
Jake Matthews (11-3) vs. Li Jingliang (14-4) (Welterweight)
Tyson Pedro (6-1) vs. Saparbek Safarov (8-1) (Light Heavyweight)

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)

Damien Brown (17-11) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (15-8-3) (Lightweight)
Rob Wilkinson (11-1) vs. Israel Adesanya (11-0) (Middleweight)
Jeremy Kennedy (11-0) vs. Alexander Volkanovski (16-1) (Lightweight)
Jussier Formiga (20-5) vs. Ben Nguyen (16-6) (Flyweight)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Ross Pearson (19-14) vs. Mizuto Hirota (18-8-2) (Lightweight)
Teruto Ishihara (10-4-2) vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez (6-2) (Bantamweight)
Luke Jumeau (12-4) vs. Daichi Abe (6-0) (Welterweight)

Thanks to the Puertorican for letting me use this content

[Hydrogen]

Notes.

-Tai Tuivasa isn't well known. He is Mark Hunt's training/sparring partner. Mark Hunt has said that Tai Tuivasa hits harder than anyone Mark Hunt has faced throughout his career. Very high praise if true.

-I don't know if Tyson Pedro will win or lose his fight. One thing about him, he has some of the most interesting set ups to his kicks I can remember seeing in the UFC. If anyone bothers watching him fight. Note the set ups he uses.

-I suspect Yoel Romero may only have 2-3 rounds in him before he tires. Yoel may need an early finish.

-Jake Matthews looked like a hot prospect after defeating Johnny Case. Not certain what happened to him. I think he has a lot of injuries and or surgeries that are negatively affecting him.

[bbc.reporter]

Was it only me or was there a major shift in the betting odds between Yoel Romero and Luke Rockhold? I reckon when I first looked at the odds a month ago, Luke was the slight underdog, then today Yoel Romero is the underdog. What happened?

Does anyone know a website where I can check the odds and how it went up or down over time?

[tokeweed]

Hey guys, just dropping by post a few videos.  And nobody seems to be excited about this one.  Lol.  If you guys think this event sucks, wait til you see UFC 222.  Seriously...  

UFC 221 Countdown:  Full Episode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myOC2qWkyvo

UFC 221 Free Fight:  Rockhold vs Machida
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2dk7vOyhAE

UFC 221 Free Fight:  Romero vs Weidman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED5D-eae_4s

UFC 221:  Inside the Octagon - Romero vs Rockhold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-YPwbjc4_8

[tokeweed]

Tough crowd eh...?  You know the main event isn't really that bad.  I got Rockhold winning this one, after rewatching Romero's fight vs Weidman (up above), and the one vs Whitaker.  He really doesn't handle the pressure well and takes too long before he reacts.

He did surprise Weidman tho, but he was really losing before that weird jumping knee.

[eaLiTy]

He did surprise Weidman tho, but he was really losing before that weird jumping knee.

That is the way Romero fights,he will wait and then sprint forward and finish fights,he is the best wrestler in UFC ,but rarely does he use wrestling inside the cage,if he could combine these two aspects he will be even more dangerous,but Luke is an all round fighter and he is one of the top grappler's,it is an interesting fight.
My picks are Tai Tuivasa and Israel Adesanya as i am not sure with the rest of the card,Mark hunt could end a fight with a punch and the big question is whether Curtis could take Hunt down.


 

[bbc.reporter]

Is Luke Rockhold versus Yoel Romero supposed to be an interim middleweight championship fight or a fight for the no.1 rank spot? Yoel missed weight after 2 attempts, weighing at 187.7 pounds. What would happen now? Does Luke Rockhold automatically get the title shot, win or lose?

[tokeweed]

^ Romero will get less money and he doesn't get the interim belt even if he wins.  And yup, it's for the interim MW championship.

An odd situation for Rockhold if Romero wins.  Would that mean the latter gets dibs in facing Whitaker?

Anyway here are the weigh ins.  Enjoy!  

UFC 221:  Official Weigh Ins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InGCOKjFJdo

Luke Rockhold (185) vs. Yoel Romero (188.3)
Mark Hunt (264.75) vs. Curtis Blaydes (255.5)
Tai Tuivasa (263.5) vs. Cyril Asker (243.5)
Jake Matthews (170.65) vs. Li Jingliang (170.2)
Tyson Pedro (205) vs. Saparbek Safarov (204.5)
Damien Brown (155.8 ) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (155.75)
Israel Adesanya (183.25) vs. Rob Wilkinson (186)
Jeremy Kennedy (145) vs. Alex Volkanovski (145.5)
Jussier Formiga (126.15) vs. Ben Nguyen (125.5)
Ross Pearson (156) vs. Mizuto Hirota (156)
Teruto Ishihara (135.5) vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez (135)
Luke Jumeau (170.5) vs. Daichi Abe (170.5)

[gabmen]

Is Luke Rockhold versus Yoel Romero supposed to be an interim middleweight championship fight or a fight for the no.1 rank spot? Yoel missed weight after 2 attempts, weighing at 187.7 pounds. What would happen now? Does Luke Rockhold automatically get the title shot, win or lose?

That's probably going to be the case here since yoel romero forfeited his chance of challenging robert whittaker if he wins. It's fortunate that rickhold even agreed to push through with the fight. I mean they've been given ample time to meet the weight limit. Would've been a lot more exciting if something's on the line aside from a win/loss

[SaShiRaJaVu]

Is Luke Rockhold versus Yoel Romero supposed to be an interim middleweight championship fight or a fight for the no.1 rank spot? Yoel missed weight after 2 attempts, weighing at 187.7 pounds. What would happen now? Does Luke Rockhold automatically get the title shot, win or lose?

I suppose this is the first time Yoel Romero is missing the weight limit,if Yoel wins the fight he wont be the interim champion but if Rockhold wins he will be the interim champion, i am wagging my bet on Luke Rockhold and Curtis Blaydes to win the fights,i would like to watch the rest of the fighters to wage against them,most of the fighters in this card are new to me.

[notserp]

my only pics for this card is Hunt and Formiga

[Lionidas]

Hey guys, just dropping by post a few videos.  And nobody seems to be excited about this one.  Lol.  If you guys think this event sucks, wait til you see UFC 222.  Seriously...  

UFC 221 Countdown:  Full Episode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myOC2qWkyvo

UFC 221 Free Fight:  Rockhold vs Machida
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2dk7vOyhAE

UFC 221 Free Fight:  Romero vs Weidman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED5D-eae_4s

UFC 221:  Inside the Octagon - Romero vs Rockhold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-YPwbjc4_8

I did see Lyoto Machida in his last fight so will be waiting in anticipation in seeing what he's got left in his bag of tricks to put up a fight against Rockhold which is a much better fighter than Eryk Anders was at the beginning of the month in their fight which he was the underdog.

[bbc.reporter]

Is Luke Rockhold versus Yoel Romero supposed to be an interim middleweight championship fight or a fight for the no.1 rank spot? Yoel missed weight after 2 attempts, weighing at 187.7 pounds. What would happen now? Does Luke Rockhold automatically get the title shot, win or lose?

That's probably going to be the case here since yoel romero forfeited his chance of challenging robert whittaker if he wins. It's fortunate that rickhold even agreed to push through with the fight. I mean they've been given ample time to meet the weight limit. Would've been a lot more exciting if something's on the line aside from a win/loss

Because not fighting would also suggest that they will receive no payment. In any case part of Yoel's payment will go to Luke Rockhold regardless if Luke wins or loses. It is a good compromise for Luke only if he becomes the priority to fight Robert Whitaker for the middleweight championship.

[tokeweed]

Well it looks like we have an interim MW champ who isn't really an interim champ...?  Rofl.  How it sucks to be Rockhold right now.  I mean he doesn't deserve a shot at Whitaker, obviously.  So what does that make him?

Maybe Woodley needs to move up to make things interesting at MW.

Here are the results:



UFC 221:  Post Fight Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHpkY45VRfk

Edit:  Romero facing Whitaker next.  Confirmed by Dana White.

[eaLiTy]

Well it looks like we have an interim MW champ who isn't really an interim champ...?  Rofl.  How it sucks to be Rockhold right now.  I mean he doesn't deserve a shot at Whitaker, obviously.  So what does that make him?
Maybe Woodley needs to move up to make things interesting at MW.

The soldier of god does have his second shot at facing the Champion Robert Whittaker and that makes him fight for the belt three times in a row which is very rare for a fighter.   Woodley is only looking for big money fights and there are not many big money fights in 185 pound division and i am sure Woodley will be facing Rafael dos Anjos,happy to see the performance of Blaydes as he displayed a perfect game plan for Hunt,look out for Israel Adesanya in the future as he is one hell of a talent.

[Hydrogen]

I watched almost all of the fights.

My take on the main event, Rockhold looked like he hadn't done much hard sparring leading up to it. He didn't look as comfortable having someone wanting to punch him in the face as he did when he fought Weidman & others. I think Rockhold also switched camps and did his training in florida with some of the blackzilian guys instead of in california in the AKA gym with Daniel Cormier, Cain & the rest the way he usually does it. That might have had something to do with Rockhold's kickboxing not looking as sharp as it has in the past.

I'm bummed about Mark Hunt losing. Was hoping he would win that one. Decent card overall. Was surprised to see every asian on the card except for Dong Hyun Kim lose their fights. I think they call that "asian fade in effect".

[nydiacaskey01]

I didn't watch the fight as I only see a few interesting fights in the card but according to some sports news outlet, this is one of the lowest buys in PPV in UFC history and they are saying that Boxing is starting to pick up again while UFC continues with its low PPV buys. I guess its because they only have a few fighters left that attracts PPVs.

[tokeweed]

I didn't watch the fight as I only see a few interesting fights in the card but according to some sports news outlet, this is one of the lowest buys in PPV in UFC history and they are saying that Boxing is starting to pick up again while UFC continues with its low PPV buys. I guess its because they only have a few fighters left that attracts PPVs.

Yup.  I blame the 'McGregor factor'...  We have been spoiled by that guy giving us the most entertaining build ups going to the events, and then backing it all up by giving us a good display of talent in the octagon. 

And you better get used to these 'filler' events for the next several weeks.  Lol.  The next 'great' event will be on April with Ferguson vs Khabib and Namajunas vs the Polish boogey woman. 

It's worth the wait imo.

[Hydrogen]

I didn't watch the fight as I only see a few interesting fights in the card but according to some sports news outlet, this is one of the lowest buys in PPV in UFC history and they are saying that Boxing is starting to pick up again while UFC continues with its low PPV buys. I guess its because they only have a few fighters left that attracts PPVs.

UFC fighters don't have careers that last very long. Many of them burn out after a short time. Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez have all not been active and UFC PPV numbers have fallen as a result. I think fans are irritated as many of their heroes and fighters they develop an emotional attachment to don't last very long as champions in MMA. Its not like boxing where Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather dominate for periods lasting decades.

Casual fans probably don't know who Luke Rockhold or Yoel Romero are. A lot of people seem to not like Rockhold for whatever reason. Yoel Romero also doesn't speak english very well which makes it difficult for fans to relate to him. Unfortunately, I don't think this card was going to do well with both of them headlining it.

[bbc.reporter]

@Hydrogen. I agree with your comment on Ronda Rousey, but Cain and Jon have their own issues like chronic physical injuries and brain damage in the case of Jon hehehe. They would be dominating their divisions if they did not have them.

About Conor, his career is far from short. I reckon we will see something special on April 7 after the Tony versus Khabib fight.