7 Takeaways From UFC 225
A look back on what took place at UFC 225.
UFC descended on the United Stadium in Chicago on Saturday with UFC 225.
The card was pretty average but had UFC legends running through it such as Rashad Evans, Clay Guida and Alistair Overeem, as well as an array of up and coming talent with the likes of Tai Tuivasa, Curtis Blaydes and Colby Covington all featuring.
At the top of the bill was the highly anticipated rematch between UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker and the 'Solider of God' Yoel Romero. The shine was somewhat knocked off the fight after Romero missed weight by 0.2lbs, meaning that if he won, he couldn't win the belt. Fans were still excited and hoping the rematch would come close to the war that ensued when the two met back at UFC 213.
In the co-main event, Rafael Dos Anjos met Colby Covington in an interim Welterweight title clash. This bout wasn't just about the belt; Dos Anjos felt he was fighting for his home country of Brazil after Covington labelled it 'a dump' and the natives as 'filthy animals' following his Demian Maia win.
These are the most important things we learned from the show.
7. Older Fighters Were Fed To The Next Generation
UFC 225 certainly had the feel of the promotion trying to build up the next generation of stars, but it was just a shame that they used fan favourite veterans to do it.
Four fights optimized this, with big age differences between Curtis Blaydes (27) and Alistair Overeem (38), Tai Tuivasa (25) and Andrei Arlovski (39), Anthony Smith (29) and Rashad Evans (38) and Robert Whittaker (27) and Yoel Romero (41).
Arlovski came out best of all the older fighters. Although he lost his fight, he left the cage with only a bruised face and put up a good showing against a very tough, and much younger Tai Tuivasa.
Whittaker vs. Romero was, in the words of Joe Rogan, a 'slobberknocker' but Romero definitely came off worse. Yes Whittaker broke and bloodied his face, but apart from that he walked away pretty alright. In Romero's post fight video from his hospital bed, it was clear to see that his eye had swollen shut and he had a plug up his nose to try and stop the blood.
Overeem and Evans weren’t just beat, they were beat horrendously. Overeem’s face was a bloody mess after taking six elbows to the skull before the bout was stopped and as for Evans, it’s fair to say he suffered the worst KO of the night and possibly of 2018 so far.