The UFC Fight Night 70 card set for June 27 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollwood, Fla. is headlined by a top flight middleweight bout between Yoel Romero and Lyoto Machida. The match sees Romero come in as a (+135) underdog to Machida, who is returning at (-175). The bout is scheduled for five rounds and has an over/under set at 2.5 rounds with both the over and the under paying (-120).
Romero was slated to fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, first in February at UFC 184, then the fight was rescheduled for April, and then it was cancelled. The February bout was postponed due to Souza’s illness, then the April bout did not happen because Romero suffered a knee injury. Romero has since opted to not have surgery to repair the knee, so he gets Machida. Romero is just 9-1 in MMA, but he competed in freestyle wrestling at two Olympic games, winning a silver medal back in 2000 as he was representing his native Cuba. At 38 years old, he is a late starter in MMA and is looking to fast-track his way to the top. A win over Machida would go a long way towards achieving that, as it would give him six wins in a row. Since leaving Cuba, he has relocated to south Florida, so this is a home fight for Romero.
Machida, a former light heavyweight champion, has stumbled recently, going 1-2 in his last three fights. In his last outing, he was submitted by Luke Rockhold via rear naked choke, and the other loss came at the hands of Chris Weidman. His lone win came against the out-matched CB Dolloway and lasted about a minute. With Weidman and Rockhold, Machida had trouble with physical wrestlers. Now, Romero is short and stocky, not long and tall like Weidman and Rockhold, but he certainly is capable of forcing this fight to happen where he wants it.
Right now both “Jacare” and Rockhold are in the mix for the next title shot, and things will have to sort themselves out between those two and Chris Weidman. After that, however, the next title challenger could be the winner of this match, especially if it happens to be Romero who pulls out the slight upset.
