Robert Whittaker has made history tonight as the first Australian UFC champion.
Whittaker took on Yoel Romero in the main event of UFC 213.
Yoel crawled into middle of the cage and then tried to lull his opponent with a false sense of security by using these odd, slow movements. Robert, however, didn’t bite, and he kept on coming at his opponent.
Romero shoots, gets Whittaker down, but Whittaker pops right back up and gets out of it! #UFC213 pic.twitter.com/mZeEVJxWXG
— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2017
By Round 2, it was revealed Whittaker’s left leg was injured. Still, he was determined to power through it, even though he couldn’t push off with it and it obviously affected his ability fight.
Yoel landed a nice takedown at the beginning of the round. Whittaker looked like he wanted to sweep, but his hurt leg prevented him from doing so. Robert tried again, but gave up his back and Yoel got on it. Whittaker tried to get away but Yoel held on. Still he wasn’t able to do anything with it.
By Round 3, Yoel was obviously starting to tire and Whittaker was still light on his feet. He acted almost as if his leg wasn’t bothering him.
Robert clipped Yoel but Romero got out before his opponent could do more damage. Whittaker hit more kicks. Yoel, however, did not throw much. He was either trying to conserve his energy or he didn’t have much energy to conserve.
Yoel saw the fourth round for the first time tonight, and it wasn’t a good one for him. Yoel’s attacks were sloppy and he practically fell over when he tried to take his opponent down. Robert however kept on coming with those kicks and punches.
Both fighters were clearly tired in the fifth, but they were determined to put on a show. They through punches, kicks, and knees at each other. Yoel bled profusely. Despite his effort, when Yoel ended up on the ground, it was all over for him. Whittaker landed some good shots in his guard and managed to pass to half. He then smothered Yoel, ground him, and continued with the shots.
WHAT. A. FIGHT.#UFC213 pic.twitter.com/iB2taxSHST
— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2017
Robert Whittaker impressed the judges enough to win the interim middleweight title. He also impressed the man he will be fighting next in order to unify the titles, reigning Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping.
Bisping congratulated Whittaker on his performance right before telling him how disgusted he was to see him standing there with a belt. Michael Bisping then threw his belt down and said, “Come fight me for it, ************.”
It didn’t seem to bother Robert, who just stood there and smiled.
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