Robert Whittaker vs Yoel Romero 1 | FULL FIGHT | UFC Saudi Arabia

Rewatch the full fight between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero ahead of Whittaker’s fight against Ikram Aliskerov at UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22nd.

#RiyadhSeason | @RiyadhSeason

Order UFC PPV on ESPN+ ➡️ https://ufc.ac/3NKBvmx (U.S. only)
Order UFC PPV ➡️ https://ufc.com/ppv (Non U.S.)

Subscribe to get all the latest UFC content: https://ufc.ac/3u8FIJp

Experience UFC live with UFC FIGHT PASS, the digital subscription service of the UFC. Visit https://ufcfightpass.com/

👉 Shop official UFC Gear, visit https://ufcstore.com
👉 Shop official UFC Memorabilia, visit https://ufccollectibles.com
👉 Shop official UFC VIP Live Event Experiences, visit https://ufc.ac/3Oz2gLH

Connect with UFC online and on Social:
🔴 Website: https://www.ufc.com
🔵 Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ufc
🔵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ufc
🔴 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ufc
🟡 Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/ufc
🟣 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ufc
⏯️ UFC Video Archive: https://ufc.ac/3x6Wflx

Connect with UFC FIGHT PASS on Social:
🔵 Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ufcfightpass
🔵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ufcfightpass
🔴 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ufcfightpass

#UFC #ufcsaudiarabia

title fight tonight Robert Whitaker with the nation on his shoulders trying to come through he is in the blue trunks yoel Romero in red the fight clock is brought to you by Budweiser this buds for [Applause] you Romero out of the Southpaw stance Whitaker the Orthodox fighter Romero does a lot of weird stuff he lulls you into a false sense of security with slow motion sometimes and you’re seeing it here just kind of feels you out sees where you are when he explodes it’s shocking so unpredictable a lot of guys underestimate the punching power of Whitaker you know a lot of his punches are short and they’re crisp but man as he’s shown time and time again he lays people out with them Whitaker less than three months remove little slip there for Robert less than three months removed from that win over Jac sza that set up this Championship opportunity [Music] tonight whiter back in the center of the octagon this is really where he wanted to be dictate the pace and the space of this fight with his striking and wanted to be in the center of the Octagon to do [Applause] that what really wasn’t concerned about five rounds tonight looked like Romero landed a kick to the body nice timing though on the jab by Whitaker as well Whitaker’s closing in very quickly beautiful jab there by Whitaker the way he’s closing the distance is very quick and he really he uses his legs to really snap in and and hit you it’s not just an arm punch it’s a full body foot kick and Whitaker nearly made him pay with a counterright shot here from Romero Whitaker goes [Applause] down we see a lot of times Romero when he takes guys down he sacrifices top position because he just postur up and thrs bombs here he he tried to keep on but that’s a big mental win for Robert Whitaker escaping that easily that’s a loss in my eyes for Romero who used a lot of energy to execute that taked down and really didn’t get much out of it Tred to flying [Applause] knee look at this Whit with the takedown defense Sensational excellent hips there somehow getting his legs back under him but if you’re in the corner Whitaker this is what you want get this guy to expend as much energy in round one as you can and and and then look for him to fade later they really do believe that Romero will slow down if this fight gets in the fourth and fifth round Whitaker’s take down defense north of 91% coming in less than two minutes now to go round [Applause] one Whitaker wasn’t too concerned about five rounds versus three tonight he feels like the gas tank is really dependent upon who dictates the fight nice work Reaching Across the head getting his back off the fence move your he the job works I may be wrong but I’m looking at Robert Whitaker’s right leg and I think he might have injured it in one of those scrambles there’s something about the way he’s moving that just seems a little off looks like the top of his foot has a cut on it it’s very easy to break those those bones on the foot you kick someone in the knee or catch their elbow on a front kick I mean it might just be the odd way that he moves but I’m seeing this occasional straightening of his leg where his leg locks which just looks odd to me nice front kick there though with that leg Whitaker faints under a minute here to go round one don’t R don’t R counter watch what he’s going to come up with he’s going to stre he’s got hisat food watch [Applause] it nice job by Whitaker to use the whizard and get back to his feet 20 seconds here in round one amazing taked down defense by Whitaker amazing not an easy round to score though ooh powerful inside leg kick o just just flicked him good sign there the Whitaker was able to throw that right just out of range with a massive from the very beginning of the first round has a hard oblique kick and look when you’re a guy who really depends on movement and being light on your feet big injury for Whitaker to sustain looks like he’s fighting through it yeah that is the lead leg and you can see now hard for him to put pressure on it I’ll tell you what though look there’s already some bruising on the inside of the left knee yeah that was from a inside leg kick that Romero landed towards the end of the round the Whitaker having a real hard time pushing off that but he’s just throwing it anyway he set in the pass no better place to break my hand in the octagon he’s getting it out of the way really quick now look at the way he stepped there was very awkward yeah doesn’t look like Romero realizes it yet though I don’t know how his Corner isn’t seeing [Applause] it a lot of those collisions as both men try to advance left like wh at a KNE to the chest though and beautiful level change from a Romero let’s see if he can get some top time here though staying heavy and there look Whitaker had an opportunity to lift with butterfly guard there and if his left knee is hurt he couldn’t do it and he immediately left butterfly guard to close his guard not something I would do if I wanted to get Romero off of me but if your knee is trashed like he said man you’re a hard time lifting hold TI hold yeah and if his knee is trash it’s going to be very hard to keep weight on it as he’s trying to get back up to his feet and use it in awkward angles he might just try to hold on here for Big John to stand him back up yep and it seems like that’s what he’s doing here so this point Romero staying active enough under 3 minutes here in round two I can see Big John S him up though shortly and the big thing too though is is we’ve seen some vicious ground up from Romero in the past he’s avoiding a lot of that as well now Romero’s [Applause] up Romero tries to pass unable to do sot W looking for the sweep but Romero takes his back get ready for suplex City possibly here nice job at wh going to lower his base and get himself to the fence really nicely done [Applause] y still with control of the body and lands a knee now tries to kick the legs out from underneath Whitaker not [Applause] happening two minutes to go round two better pacing by Romero in this round he exploded a lot in round one the one Tak down here but even though he’s controlling the clinch not overexerting himself here in these positions and wasting energy work [Music] [Applause] [Music] beautiful trip Whitaker back up to his feet turning into [Applause] Romero he what though that’ll sap a lot of energy from your legs constantly having to stand back up out of that tight waist and rotate through and pummel [Applause] [Applause] right Whitaker just allowing too much fence control time here dig that left arm in try and get double underhooks and get out of this position or reach around the head like he did in round one so John McCarthy not seeing enough action back to the center less than a minute to go here in this second round of a possible five Romero two for five on his takedown attempts thus far he tried to hide the wobble with that punch Whitaker showing off a pretty good chin there after a big right hand from [Applause] [Music] Romero so Whitaker seemingly fighting through injury here in this UFC interim middleweight title [Applause] fight just doesn’t want to give him any [Applause] space he also doesn’t want to waste too much energy himself clearly pacing himself and he gets the take down at the very end of the [Applause] round get out the question is how bad is the injury how much of it is pain and how much of it is instability there’s a big difference he can get through pain fainting nicely there and has to put weight on that knee to do so but I’ve been really impressed with Romero and some of the fight IQ we’ve seen from him we’ve seen lack of focus before in previous fights his fight against Derek Brunson fight against H Marx Tim Kennedy he’s had these these laps of focus where he’s gotten caught where he’s got taken down here though late takedowns in each round could very well be up two rounds To None right now and hasn’t overexerted himself yeah looks very fresh they’re going to clip the tape up here of Romero’s glove give me that real quick cut that Whitaker does keep going with that push kick but at least to this point in the round he has been unable to land the last round he followed up that push kick with a nice hook and did land that’s one of his better combinations yeah we have not seen Whitaker let his hands go like we’re acustom to seeing with those quick fast accurate combinations I’m shocked that he’s throwing so many kicks if his knee really is trashed but it it may just be a pain thing and not a stability thing in which case it makes sense he’s definitely gotten away from his jab which is an excellent strike for him sets up his follow on harder punches land it nicely in round one he’s putting a lot of pressure on Romero here oh he clipped him big left hand land for Whitaker see if he can follow it up here so a strong first 90 seconds to round three for Robert [Applause] Whitaker he a nice job cutting him off too keeping Romero’s back towards the fence keep an eye if Romero starts to try and laterally move and Escape these combinations remember what Whitaker did to jaare followed up a right hand with that right high kick catching you circling [Music] away as we mentioned off the top this has been a huge round for Romero in his UFC career of course all of those previous fights were only scheduled for three scheduled for five here tonight with the UFC in middleweight belt on the line exactly right finished Eric Brunson third round Macha third round Chris Weidman third round Tim Kennedy five of six UFC koos round three oh boy and there’s that nice right high kick oh yeah distant strike starting to pile up for Bob Whitaker less than two and a half here to go round [Applause] three so not much in terms of output from Romero through the left hand there Whitaker counters perhaps Romero starting to fade a little bit yeah I believe so and he he’s looking to just explode with one big bomb and conserve him himself in between boy that was excellent faint double fainting there as he closed the distance and and really Drew out a bad shot from Romero [Applause] there he’s still able to move well despite whatever’s going on with his knee he’s able to close the distance well explode forward stuff Tak Downs he’s obviously got some sort of an issue but he’s making up for it Romero’s not even throwing strikes not Jab not kicking oh beautiful work there from Robert Whitaker you can almost feel Whitaker’s confidence Rising here as we approach the final minute of this third round Whitaker does an excellent job of same side attacks a lot of people if you punch with the right hand or kick with the right foot they expect you to follow up with the opposite hand or leg Whitaker using a nice right punch right knee Right Punch right high kick a little unorthodox catches guys off guard looked like that right hand landed partially Robert Whitaker came in with the best strike differential regardless middleweight history Romero’s not throwing anything yeah as as fast as Robert Whitaker is it is very evident that Romero is trying to conserve himself [Applause] [Applause] [Music] good left hand to the body there yel Romero has never seen a fourth round in his mixed martial arts career he is 10 seconds away from doing just that I honestly can’t remember the last time he threw a punch I mean it may have been the first 90 seconds of the round [Music] him in the left hand right at the end soon as we are done Whitaker so highly focused on his cardio and his Fitness not denying he’s the fresher fighter here as we hit these Championship rounds round four underway he’s using a lot of push kicks creating distance and as Brian was saying tries to go right behind that with a [Applause] punch Whitaker moving a lot better here in round four than he was in round two lands the kick to the body there that got Romero’s attention very smart to attack the body right [Music] now beautiful scrambles here Whitaker up to his feet trying to hit the switch can’t make it gets up to the cage really smart he almost sprinted towards that fence yeah [Applause] there’s a lot of energy here being expended by both guys but if Romero can’t get the taked down or can’t get any damage to Whit he’s landed some good knees here but this is going to be interesting to see how he [Applause] fares in the last 3 minutes and 40 seconds of the round this is where he had success in round two where he basically just held on to Robert as much as he could even if you couldn’t take him down he’s going to stay here as much as he can and just rest and land a few knees trying to win the round Robert pummels under he’s up he’s up and he’s free he lands a nice knee to the body outstanding job by Whitaker to get back to his feet just over three minutes here round four no one talks about Whitaker’s grappling we talk about his takedown defense here’s a guy he actively competes in Jiu-Jitsu oh you saw something there I’ll tell you what he’s EX extremely well prepared for this fight just like he was against Jack for Jack’s exact style of takedowns he seems very well prepared to break the hold and Pummel and avoid some of these takedowns and just the clinch from Romero in general Romero’s looking at his legs he’s looking at his legs and remember that flying knee of Romero it’s one of his big weapons and if he thinks that Whitaker is having a hard time getting out of the way at things [Applause] big deep breath from Wert Whitaker as we hit the midpoint of round four Romero 80 in the UFC coming in Whitaker is W his last seven something’s got to give here tonight there’s the knee it’s just harder to time those techniques on Whitaker because he moves well light on his feet faints a lot thatb move to the side yeah even with that damaged leg he’s still able to cover distance [Music] well oh we caught him with the left so Whitaker follows up the body kick with left hand beautiful push body kick to the body and look how smart he is right some guys will get over aggressive here try and throw a two or three punch combo in the pocket but he immediately gets back out to his range understanding just how explosive the athlete is he’s facing o man Just Whipped with that left uppercut it was open though let’s see if he goes back to it Romero’s doing very little in terms of striking in this [Applause] round well there’s the significant strike picture Joe that right hand has landed only 21 with just 6 minutes to go beautiful takedown defense and that’s huge because Romero needs another takedown to try and win this round you control the beginning of it not sure if he dropped Romero there but he stunned him with a right Jabs Romero while yel that left man beautiful left hand oh he rocked him quick check on the clock by Whitaker it reads 34 seconds very little behind that kick you can see how labored it was and he’s failing miserably the shot landed a beautiful knee look how sloppy that attempt is he’s [Applause] exhausted Whitaker mixing up his strikes beautifully here down the stretch in round four and he is just so intelligent in his approach never gets greedy wow wow so technical advice at least when we listen into the corner of yel Romero Fifth and final round of this UFC interim middleweight championship fight oo [Applause] man there’s a land for yel Romero good jab by Whitaker right there he’s catching him coming in cuz Romero’s telegraphing things getting sloppy with his movements and Whitaker’s faster the hand speed difference is is very evident here in round five Romero able to duck underneath that Beau knee fake the right hand came up the middle of the re oh he tagged him he’s hurt Whitaker now circling out of H’s way oh big left for Romero you can feel the tension here inside the T-Mobile Arena boy Whitaker still has to be smart here he cannot get greedy stay on the outside get in and get out big deep breaths for y Romero he tagged him again with that right hand he’s got a cut over his right eye excuse me his left eye Romero’s pushing here though he knows he’s got to win here man he’s throwing some heavy strikes now he is so tired good front kick to the body SM wi grabble to get the guard up to block that head kick three and A2 minutes now AG go Whitaker’s tired as well you can see [Applause] it lot of good faints by Whitaker yeah he’s pun punches are just getting slower and slower for Romero good front kick again I love the body work from from Whitaker right now if I’m in his corner I’m screaming attack the body again cut oh that front kick to the body’s money boy both of these men exhausted Romero has been cut twice in this round wants courtesy of a knee this really is who wants it most these guys are beat down it justes all that clench work rounds one and two there was a lot of clenching a lot of digging for underhooks man that is so fatiguing and these guys actually accepted this on six weeks Noti as Vice the typical two months you get to prepare for a fight and Whitaker less than three months removed from the win over Jac soza again attacking with that kick to the body these will be a long two plus minutes he just peaked at the clock as [Applause] well Romero on the counter once again Whitaker gets that right hand up he circles away from that power left of the solder of Godel Romero boy and there’s no head movement I mean Romero right now is an easy target to find it’s just key for for Whitaker Romero takes a shot so well though I mean he’s got an iron chin the only guy I ever really stunned them in the Octagon is Tim [Applause] Kennedy look at this huge Wier Whitaker you just don’t know if Romero has the energy to get back to his feet at this point this could be it right here if he can keep him down here and for Romero it’s imperative that he just whatever he’s got in him he’s got to explode and get back up to his feet or try to reverse the position and he’s not even picking his speed up off the mat at this point less than a minute to go you can be sure Whitaker’s going to try to stay active here elbows to the body total strike picture there round by round a big fifth thus far for Robert Whitaker zero attempt from Romero to get back to his feet right now well and if Whitaker could close the round here on the ground it could be huge for him and what has been a closely contested championship fight look at this stepping over full Mount lost it half guard almost one of those opened up a nasty cut all these are the back of the head that’s why Big John ripped his hand away nasty elbows by Whitaker Romero trying to get the full guard can’t make it trying to get back up to his [Applause] feet outstanding croww work from Whitaker down the stretch standing cheer ladies and gentlemen Robert Whitaker and yoel Romero Go the Distance in this UFC interim middleweight championship fight tonight in Las Vegas wow both Fighters seem to think they have done enough what do you think Brian Stan you know I I feel like Robert Whitaker did enough to win the last three rounds thought he dro the first two but you know you just never know just like the co-main event yeah I agree with you and I would like to see the better scoring system in place for these championship fights but I agree with you I think Whitaker did enough in the last three rounds and clearly YOLO Romero conserving his energy let’s get you the fight replay brought to you by bud I ER this buds for you and this is that front leg side kick and there’s the hook [Music] kick there’s a Tak down by Romero front kick to the body by Whitaker ladies and gentlemen after five rounds we go to the judges scorecards for decision all three judges score this contest 4847 for the winner by un nimous decision and new interim UFC middleweight champion of the world Robert the reaper wi it [Applause]