If you were Luke would you still agree to fight Romero?

Romero is definitely trying to get an unfair advantage but Rockhold and his team are confident in this one... So. Yeah probably. Also it wouldn't be very good for my future prospects to bow out of a fight like this on 24 hours notice.

 

Very unprofessional move by Romero. To miss weight by that much indicates either something went horribly wrong during his cut or he's trying to cheat Rockhold on the scales. I think it's likely the latter as Romero has been cutting weight for most of his life going back his amateur wrestling days.

 

Yeah I dont think he tried to hard to make weight and is likely trying to get whatever advantage he can but against Luke it won't make a difference imo Luke looks massive compared to him.

In general missing by that much can easily be a big influence and is not unreasonable for opponent to decline the fight.Maybe even take a percentage of there pay over the standard 20% for some of the blatant missing of weight

 

"That much"...he was 3 pounds over. He took the fight on short notice, but he was expecting to fight in 2 weeks. Maybe that two weeks is the difference on whether or not he makes weight. Do you really think he would bother to get to within a couple pounds of making weight only to give up 20% of his purse?

 

Yeah im fairly sure that's the case similar to boxing which seems harsh for those just missing but unfair that they would get the same as a fighter who could be 5kg+ over and still get the same penalty.

They get an hour after the 1st weigh in to try lose the weight which is fair but potentially dangerous trying to lose a lot not to mention how it can affects how they fight 24 hours later.It at least gives those just over a chance to avoid losing money most cant afford to lose.

Romero only lost few hundred grams but I wouldn't have even tried, even though it was short notice I bet he would have been able to make weight if it was for the full title.He is probably thinking a win over Rockhold puts him in just as good a spot wether he made weight or not for this with a built in excuse of it being late notice fight.

 

A week or two shouldn't make a difference, all the serious training has been done already. Hard sparring, strength/conditioning etc. The last couple weeks in most modern camps is about dialling it down to recover and avoid last minute injuries. He signed the contract and knew what he was getting into so he doesn't lose any blame.

And yeah a few pounds makes an enormous difference on a pure water cut. That can be the difference between being dead at the weight and having full of energy on fight night.

 

Yeah sauna if they have access I remember amateur boxing we would run in the sun wearing a black garbage back to help sweat off couple hundred grams . Boxing rules vary I think in Jeff Horns last title defence he lost 4 KG in 24 hours but I imagine some fighters losing more then that.

 

Never said he wasn't to blame.

Two weeks makes all the difference in the world. All the fighters I know monitor their weight the entire camp, and many are still losing weight 2 weeks out. Some of these guys stay closer to fight weight between fights than others, but they all have a target they want to hit before they start cutting. I have a friend that fights at 170. He wants to be 174ish by the time he needs to cut weight. He's not afraid of getting down to 168, because he is a high energy guy that relies on speed. He works out all the time, and rarely gets above 180. He's normally 176 two weeks out and looking to lose 2 pounds. Another fighter, same gym, also fights at 170. He like to begin his weight cut at 190. There's several times he has been 195 a few weeks out, looking to drop 5 pounds.

I don't know for sure Romero was scheduled to fight on the 24th. I read he was pulled from that card for tonight's fight. Regardless, his trainer said they were not focusing on technical aspects for this fight in the UFC 221 Countdown. He said they were focusing on resistance and explosive speed, as they had taken the fight on short notice. I'm sure he was over 200 pounds a few days ago, and he's probably back there now.

I don't think he bothered to cut to 187 to fail on purpose.

 

lol I don't know about a compelling back story.

Speculating that someone engaged in a brutal weight cut only to intentionally stop 2 pounds shy for a physical advantage, and give up 20% of his purse to his opponent for missing weight makes for a worse story than this runoff makes a sentence.