Last month middleweight champion Robert Whittaker took to social media to propose a date for his upcoming title defense against Yoel Romero headline the upcoming UFC 225 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Chicago, Illinois on Jun 9, 2018.
“Soldier of God,” also confirms the rematch during a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show that he will be challenging the champ Robert Whittaker for a title: (quotes Via MMAFighting)
Let’s just wait until June 9th,” Romero said when asked how a rematch with Whittaker would look. “After the [Whittaker] fight, my manager said that when he saw me I had a big smile on my face,” said Romero. “I was very happy. I didn’t take that loss as serious as I should have. [I was happy because] I learned. And now you see what happened with Luke Rockhold. I learned about timing.
“Listen, people talk about my ‘gas’ but it wasn’t easy to fight Luke Rockhold. I went to Albuquerque with Jon Jones and I learned something. They controlled my attacks, so I learned when to attack. If you go, go, go, you will get tired. So I had to learn to pace myself. I don’t have a problem with five rounds now.”
The pair initially squared off at UFC 213, where Whittaker walking away with the interim 185-pound strap after doing enough to outscore Yoel Romero on the judges’ scorecards.
Whittaker was promoted to middleweight champion last year after Georges St-Pierre vacated and was expected to defend his title against Rockhold at UFC 221. However, the Whittaker was forced out of the bout due to of health issues, and Romero stepped in as his replacement.
Romero finishes Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 via brutal third-round KO this past February, but unable to win the title after he came in over-weight for the pre-fight weigh-ins.
The promotion still has yet to make the title fight official.
