UFC 221 already lost its headliner in UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker, who was slated to take on challenger Luke Rockhold. But Rockhold's new opponent has caused the planned interim title fight to be half of that.
Yoel Romero missed weight Friday night (which is Saturday in Perth), landing at 187.7 pounds ahead of his planned UFC Interim Middleweight Championship fight with Rockhold. The championship limit is 185 pounds, which Romero was unable to hit. As a result, Romero will be ineligible to win the championship at UFC 221, while Rockhold is still able to win the title.
Dana White reached out to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, who shared the following:
The rather large-for-middleweight Romero accepted the fight on just four weeks' notice.
Romero actually came up short in his attempt to capture the interim championship last year against Whittaker, who was eventually promoted to undisputed champion when then-champion Georges St-Pierre was sidelined.
Fightful.com will have full, live coverage of UFC 221 Saturday night, including a live post-show podcast.
