The Bloody Elbow staff has made its predictions for Saturday’s UFC 221 card in Perth, Australia. Opinion is fairly divided on who’ll win the primary event between Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero, which is fitting considering the 50-50 nature of this one. Our thoughts are also divided on the co-main between Mark Hunt and Curtis Blaydes. In terms of the rest of the principal card? Yeah… completely unanimous.
Note: Predictions are entered throughout the week and gathered the day before the event. Explanations behind every choice aren’t required and some authors opt to not do this for their own reasons. By way of instance, if Phil Mackenzie entered all of his predictions on Wednesday without incorporating in any explanations, he has no idea if he’s going to be the only one siding with one fighter for any given fight.
Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero
Anton Tabuena: Romero does not have MMA wrestling that is certainly on par with his credentials, and if this does go to the ground, that will be Rockhold’s entire world. This essentially boils down to Romero landing a bomb, or him worked by the technical and complete fighter. Romero has electricity and that he can certainly put his lights out at any stage, but I simply think Rockhold is the far superior MMA fighter in general. Unless Rockhold begins slow and gets cluttered, he should be in a position to control distance, land those big kicks, and maybe finish this on the floor. Luke Rockhold by TKO.
Mookie Alexander: Selfishly, I want Rockhold to win since it is simply more interesting to watch him from Robert Whittaker than Whittaker vs. Romero two, a struggle I think Whittaker wins even more conclusively than he did the very first time. Romero is not a guy who finishes people immediately, but the mere fact he’s so dangerous from the subsequent rounds presents another challenge for Luke. Nevertheless, I hope Rockhold’s cardio to maintain up at a five-rounder, he has a more diverse ground game than Romero (zero livelihood submission efforts ), and I believe his kicks will be key to effecting Romero’s gas tank as the fight progresses. You always have to be concerned about Romero’s KO power, as well as the potential for him to put Rockhold on his spine and deliver some punishment, but I believe Rockhold gets the win in a tough, highly competitive contest. Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision.

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