12 Jun 2019
Two of the 185lbs division’s all-time greats go head to head in Australia this weekend, with the interim UFC middleweight world title on the line
On February 10, UFC arrives in Perth, Western Australia for the very first time. At the top of the bill is a middleweight interim title fight between No.1 ranked Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero and former champion, and now No. 2 ranked, Luke Rockhold.
In the Genting Bet MMA odds, Rockhold currently finds himself as the betting favourite at 8/11, while Yoel Romero is the slight underdog at 11/10.
One of the key questions heading into the five round main event matchup remains; where will the fight be contested? With a 3 inch height and 4 inch reach advantage, Rockhold will undoubtedly be looking to keep Romero at range and utilise the arsenal of strikes at his disposal. Romero, on the other hand, will be looking to close the distance and use his world-class wrestling prowess to get a hold of Rockhold and take the fight to the ground. But with a 68.1% takedown defence – and years of experience training alongside some of the UFC’s greatest wresters including Daniel Cormier and Khabib Nurmagomedov – Rockhold could well have the answer to Romero’s relentless pressure.
Ahead of his last fight against David Branch, Rockhold made the bold decision to permanently relocate to Fort Lauderdale in south Florida in order to train under the direction of one of the greatest striking coaches in all of combat sports, Henri Hooft. A second round victory via tap-out to strikes reinforced that decision for Rockhold, who has remained at Hooft Kickboxing in the lead up to UFC 221.
One of the biggest weapons at the American’s disposal is his powerful left kick, an asset that will undoubtedly have been sharpened further under the tutelage of kickboxing master Hooft. The former UFC and Strikeforce champion uses these powerful kicks to keep his opponents at a distance and gradually wear them down. When he steps in against Romero, however, Rockhold will need to consider the Cuban’s southpaw stance and adapt his kicking approach accordingly. Expect to see a greater number of lower front leg kicks from Rockhold, as he looks to chip away at Romero and even potentially capitalise on his opponent’s natural instinct to grab hold of, or sweep away, kicks that are thrown in his direction.
But Rockhold too will have plenty to watch out for during this fight. A former Olympic wrestler, Romero has freakish power, phenomenal reaction times and the kind of muscle twitch fibres that enable him to react and respond to his opponent’s attack at the blink of an eye. Add to this high level striking, both offensively and defensively, and it’s easy to see why Romero is regarded as one of the greatest all round athletes on the UFC roster.
Expect Romero to pose the greatest threat in the first 2-3 rounds. Should the contest move into the championship rounds, however, expect Rockhold to use his phenomenal cardio and conditioning to dominate the longer the fight goes on.
The co-main event of UFC 221 sees veteran Mark Hunt, currently ranked at number 5 in the heavyweight division, take on rising star, No.9 ranked Curtis Blaydes. At 17 years younger than Hunt, and with just nine professional fights to his name, Blaydes holds considerably less Octagon time than veteran Hunt. But what Blaydes lacks in experience he makes up for in size and stature, boasting a significant 6 inch height and 8 inch reach advantage over Hunt.
Ahead of the fight, Blaydes finds himself as the unexpected favourite in the UFC odds at 8/13. But while Hunt remains the underdog at 5/4, as we have come to learn from the New Zealander’s decorated career, it only takes one punch to cause an upset.
While a win for Blaydes would set him on the road to title contention, a victory for Hunt would remind the rest of the UFC’s heavyweight division that there is life in the old dog yet. You would be foolish to write off Hunt too quickly - a legend of the sport who will be looking to feed off the energy of a lively home crowd and deliver yet another knockout for his highlight reel.
