UFC 225: Yoel Romero misses weight twice, Robert Whittaker fight in major doubt
UFC 225 - YOEL ROMERO’s middleweight bout with Robert Whittaker is currently hanging in the balance.
Olympic silver medallist Romero was scheduled to meet the middleweight champion in the main event of UFC 225, which takes place at the United Center in Chicago in the early hours of Sunday morning.
However, the fight is currently on a knife edge as the Cuban has failed to make weight.
On his first attempt to make weight, 41-year-old Romero weighed in at 186lbs, one pound over the middleweight championship limit.
He was given two more hours to make the required 185lbs limit and keep his dream of fighting for the undisputed middleweight crown alive.
‘The Soldier of God’ returned to the scale three minutes before the second weigh-in deadline and weighed in at 185.2lbs.
With Romero coming in 0.2lbs heavy, he is no longer eligible to win the title.
It’s currently unknown if the fight will take place as Whittaker could very well opt against locking horns with the Olympian, who he defeated at UFC 213.
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The last time a challenger missed weight for a title fight was back in February 2007 at UFC 67, when Travis Lutter looked to end Anderson Silva's reign at the summit of the middleweight division.
Lutter failed to meet the 185lbs weight limit, meaning he couldn't fight for the title.
Despite his opponent coming in heavier than him, Silva accepted the fight, which was changed from five-round contest to a three-round contest.
Although he had a weight advantage, Lutter ended up losing to 'The Spider', suffering a second-round submission loss.
The UFC have yet to provide an update on the status of the bout but are expected to do so shortly.
Express Sport will keep you updated with all the developments in this breaking story.
UFC 225 Fight Card As it stands
Robert Whittaker vs Yoel Romero (middleweight bout)
Rafael dos Anjos vs Colby Covington (interim welterweight title fight)
Holly Holm vs Megan Anderson (women’s featherweight bout)
Andre Arlovski vs Tai Tuivasa (heavyweight bout)
CM Punk vs Mike Jackson (welterweight bout)
Prelims
Alistair Overeem vs Curtis Blaydes (heavyweight bout)
Claudia Gadelha vs Carla Esparza (women’s strawweight bout)
Ricardo Lamas vs Mirsad Bektic (men’s featherweight bout)
Rashid Coulter vs Chris de la Rocha (heavyweight bout)
Rashad Evans vs Anthony Smith (light-heavyweight bout)
Joseph Benavidez vs Sergio Pettis (men’s flyweight bout)
Clay Guida vs Charles Oliveira (lightweight bout)
Mike Santiago vs Dan Ige (men’s featherweight bout)