A couple of the best middleweights around Earth are set to battle at a long-awaited bout later this spring, and I’ll give my initial thoughts on the matchup in the present MMA odds and ends.
Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa, UFC on ESPN 3
Top-ranked middleweights Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa will clash in the Primary event of UFC on ESPN 3, that is set for April 27 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The bout was first reported by Combate. It will be a five-round fight, it is probably the winner of this bout could be next in line for a crack at the UFC middleweight title now held by Robert Whittaker, who fights Kelvin Gastelum in UFC 234 in early February. (Although we need to keep Israel Adesanya in that dialog too ).
Romero (13-3) is 41-years older, but you would not know it. He’s in amazing physical condition and can be fighting an extremely high degree. The Cuban wrestling senstation is 9-2 overall from the UFC, with wins over the likes of Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman, Ronaldo”Jacare” Souza, Lyoto Machida, Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson. Seven of his UFC successes have come by knockout, and 11 total of his wins have come by knockout. He’s only been stopped once in his whole career, by Rafael”Feijao” Cavalcante back in Strikeforce, and in the UFC he’s only lost two, both razor-thin decisions to Whittaker. In many ways it’s reasonable to consider Romero the second-best middleweight in the world behind only the Australian champion. However, with two reductions to Whittaker, Romero is at the exact same place as somebody like Stephen”Wonderboy” Thompson in welterweight. With different contenders in the combination, Romero should keep active and keep winning fights in order to maybe get a third title fight from the Whittaker vs. Gastelum winner.
Costa (12-0) is a perfect 4-0 at the UFC and all of his career victories have come by knockout or entry, such as brutal knockouts over Johny Hendricks and Uriah Hall in his last two bouts. The Brazilian was labeled the next big thing by most fans and media, but so far he’s still very unproven against the top echelon of this UFC middleweight division. At just 27, he’s correct in his prime and proceeds to show an improved skill-set each time we see him within the Octagon. No doubt he’s looked fantastic against lesser opposition, and when he looks fantastic against Romero and gets the win he’ll be in an enviable position when it comes to the middleweight title taken pecking order.
This is a superb fight, and the fact it is place for five rounds makes it even better. As far as who I prefer, I think you have to label Romero as the favorite only based on what he has accomplished so far in the Octagon. Not to mention that when this fight was originally reserved for UFC 230, Romero was initially pegged as the gaming preferred ahead of the line was shot down. Costa has definitely looked great lately, though, and he has a 14-year age benefit in this struggle, but till we see him actually beat a top man it’s hard to say he should be favored over any of them. Regardless of who wins the struggle, this should be an entertaining matchup and it’s the perfect principal occasion for the Hispanic audience in Miami.
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