Robert Whittaker on UFC 225 fight with Yoel Romero: “He felt like steel”
It’s been discovered on mutliple occasions how truly large of a man Yoel Romero really is. All you have to do is look at your TV screen when he makes his way to the octagon; the man literally seems like he could have been made out of granite in ancient times, or in a laboratory by mad scientist. Either way, the size and stature this man has is something to truly behold.
But more importantly than all of that, the power that Romero possesses as a mixed martial artist is what has garnered him the most attention not from UFC fans alike, but also from his UFC peers, two of them to be exact.
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold explained just powerful is and was after he suffered a devastating knockout at UFC 221 a while back from the Cuban powerhouse.
“Respect to Yoel. That man is made of steel.” Rockhold said.
It’s hard to argue that assessment from Rockhold as recently current UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker echoed those same sentiments after facing Romero this past Saturday in a five round classic rematch that was suppose to be for the title but wasn’t due to Romero missing weight.
“This time, he felt like steel,” Whittaker told The Daily Telegraph.
“I was punching and kicking him but it wasn’t doing any damage. He was walking forward through everything. It was weird.”
“My shots just weren’t stopping him. I’ve fought everyone in the middleweight division — including Romero previously — and I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Except for my face, all the damage on my body is from me hitting him.”
As firmly as Whittaker believes this about Romero, at the same, he can’t seem to figure out why his opponent felt like “steel” in this fight compared to their first clash in which seemed as if Romero didn’t feel as powerful.
“Maybe you get stronger as you get older,” he said of Romero, who is now 41 years old. “I assume that’s what happens when you get to your forties.”
The reason for Romero feeling this way to Whittaker could be contributed to him being 0.2 pounds overweight a day prior to their bout.
“He didn’t feel like a middleweight,” Whittaker said. “I know you probably agree he doesn’t look like a middleweight and I can tell you he doesn’t feel like one either.”
How would you view Robert Whittaker’s evaluation of Yoel Romero?
