Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 225 goes down in Chicago.
The main event will see UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker taking on Yoel Romero in a rematch. However, the title will not be on the line due to the fact that Romero could not make weight. This is the second time in a row he has had an opportunity at a title and lost it on the scales.
Also featured on the main card is an interim welterweight title fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington.
This post will cover the main PPV card. The PPV will contain five fights and kicks off at the regular 10pm ET/7pm PT starting time. The full lineup and schedule follows. The preliminary card will be covered in a separate post.
Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero
Round 1 - Side kicks from Whittaker. Whittaker with a step-in left hook. Side kick to the knee. He sneaks the left in. Romero hasn’t thrown anything of note yet - and right as I say that, he connects with a right hook. He charges in and Whittaker avoids. Another side kick to the knee. Whittaker with a right hook over the top. Romero with a leg kick. Whitttaker keeps going back to the side kick to the knee or body. Romero with a front kick to the body. Fast standing elbow from Romero. Hard leg kick that trips up Wtittaker a bit. Whittaker lands two hard shots to the body. Romero misses with a crazy spinning back fist right at the horn. 10-9 Whittaker.
Round 2 - Side kick from Whittaker as Romero throws a jab. Side kick from Romero now. Two side kicks to the belly from Whittaker. Winging right from Whittaker. Body kick from Bobby Knuckles. Romero’s not doing much. Jab from Whittaker. Elbow scores for Whittaker as Romero tries to grab him. They trade low leg kicks. Knee to the body from Romero. He misses with a head kick. Romero’s left eye is extremely swollen very quickly. Body kick from Romero. Head kick from Whittaker knocks Romero back. Romero with a stiff left. Front kick from Romero, and a shovel hook. Romero trying to get a hold of Whittaker but can’t get a takedown. Side kick and a jab from Whittaker. 10-9 Whittaker.
Round 3 - Whittaker with the side kick to the knee. Romero pressing the action but and he drops Whittaker with a right hook! Whittaker retreating! He’’s diving in on a leg and can’t get anywhere. Romero trying to take him down now. Uppercut from Romero. Whittaker is trtying to fight out. Big elbow from Whittaker! They both land huge shots! WOW! Elbows from Romero. Whittaker trying to hold on. Romero touching up the body in close. Spinning elbow! Whitaker with a knee to teh body. Both men are breathing hard. Romero can’t throw Whittaker to the mat. Whittaker touches him with a left. Hard left jab from Romero!Romero teeing off against the cage and Whittaker is hurt! He circles away. Shovel hook and a head kick from Whittaker!! He backs off as Romero chases him. This is an amazing round. Romero gets him down and lands two lefts. He’s back up now. They clinch against the cage. 10-9 Romero.
Round 4 - Whittaker steps in with a straight right. Whittaker with a body kick. Whittaker with a head kick. Another. Jab to the injured eye. Oblique kick that takes out Romero’s knee. He lands low and we get a pause in the action. He takes about 90 seconds. Romero with a right hook. Whittaker triple jabs the bad eye and whiffs on a head kick. Whittaker keeps trying to wipe his feet off for some reason. Whittaker may have injured his right hand, as he’s only using his left. Two body shots from Romero. Another combo. Body kicks from Whittaker. Romero misses with some offense. Whittaker just misses with two lefts. They trade jabs. Romero connects with a right. And another! Whittaker did the chicken legs! Romero lands another right. Flying knee misses. 10-9 Romero.
Round 5 - Romero with a straight left. Romero with a ocmbo that staggers Whittaker again. Spinning back kick to the chest from Romero lands to the chest. Whittaker with a nice left on an advancing Romero. Double jab to the damaged eye. Romero with a hard straight left. Whittaker back to the side kicks. Romero with a huge right and Whittaker is down!! He’s trying to turtle to survive! Whittaker grabs a leg. Romero lands punches to the body. Whittakes him to the cage but can’t get up. Romero is landing short shots. Whittaker up but eats a knee. Romero trips him back down. Whittaker is on one knee with Romero holding on to him. 90 seconds to go. Romero landing knees to the back. Whittaker gets up, spits out some blood, and is promptly taken down again. They stall out and the ref retstarts then. 35 seconds left. High drama. Romero charges but can’t connect. He tries to spin but Whittaker kicks him away. 10-8 Romero. So that means I have it 48-46 Romero.
Robert Whittaker defeated Yoel Romerovia split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington
Round 1 - Covington attacks immediately. He gets a brief takedown. He’s on RDA’s back. Dos Anjos gets up, and goes back down. Covington is giving RDA zero space against the fence. Finally they separate. He’s pressing again. RDA with a left. Covington clinches. Sneaky knee inside from Dos Anjos. Back to the center. Covington with a body kick. Shovel hook to the body by RDA, and a knee. Covington ties him up again, briefly. Hard elbows from RDA, and a knee to the body. Another. Leg kick from both men. Dos Anjos with a right. Head kick from Covington, RDA with a body kick. Covington spins and misses while Dos Anjos lands a leg kick. 10-9 Covington.
Round 2 - Hard leg kick from RDA. Covington with a six-punch combination and a takedown. He can only get Dos Anjos to his knees though. RDA with a knee to the belly. Covington can’t drag him down with a single. Body kick from Dos Anjos. Inside leg kick from Covington. They scramble a bit. Covington jabbing. Thy trade body kicks. RDA digs to the body. They trade shots in the middle. Dos Anjos with a hard left. Covington with an uppercut. He clinches again. Nice left for Covington after the break. Covington gets RDA down and takes his back. RDA gets up. Covington with a right at the horn. 10-9 Covington.
Round 3 - Covington charges straight out. RDA with a jab and a shovel hook. Covington crowds him. INside leg kick from Covington. RDA returns it. They trade knees in the clinch. Body kick and a right from Covington. Colby leans on him and tries to drag him down. They trade leg kicks. RDA takes a cup shot. Cornuts cam confirms. Dos Anjos restarts after 40 seconds. Covington brings the pressure again. They exchange combinations. Back on the fence for a bit. RDA with a hard straight left. Body kick from Covington, and he keeps moving forward. Back against the fence. The crowd is restless. 10-9 Covington.
Round 4 - Covington comes straight across again but ate a huge left! That was cool. RDA with a couple of body shots. Covington charges in and takes RDA down, but he’s right back up. Dos Anjos with a takedown now! He’s got a front headlock. Covington powers to his feet. Ros Anjos in on a double again and Colby is down to his butt. He’s back up but RDA has totally turned the tables on him from a pressure point of view. They separate with two minutes to go. Dos Anjos lands clean. Covington fires back and they exchange in the pocket. Covington gets a takedown. 10-9 Dos Anjos.
Round 5 - Covington grabs onto RDA right away. Covington with a superman punch. RDA threw a jump knee at the same time but didn’t connect hard. Covington with a brief takedown. They trade body kicks. Covington moves him back against the cage. They stall out in the clinch. Covington wades back in with punches when they briefly separate. Body kick from Covington. Dos Anjos looks for a takedown but can’t get it. Covington looks for his own. He bodies RDA around and gets him to the floor. RDA looks for a kimura and Covington rolls away. They pop each other in the center. They’re really brawling. Covington dives in for a late takedown. Dos Anjos fends him off. Body kick from Covington, Dos Anjos lands a right and a left. 10-9 and 49-46 Covington.
Colby Covington defeated Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Round 1 - Holly with a body kick. Anderson with a huge knee to the face that got Holly’s attention. They clinch and Anderson lands another one. Holm with some knees to the leg. Extended battle here, almost half a round. They finally separate with 1:50 to go. Holm with a striaght left and a hard front kick to the face. Holly shoots a double but they end up in a neutral position. Holly eventually ends up on top and lands an elbow. Anderson spins around and Holm just elbows her in the butt. 10-9 Holm.
Round 2 - Holly with a looping right hook that connects. Holm looks for another takedown and they end up against the cage. Anderson lands a nice right after they separate. Holm with a body kick. Anderson tries to throw a knee but Holm took her down. Holm moves to side and isolates an arm. She goes to mount and lands two hard shots. She appears to be setting up an arm-triangle. She just oes back to a barrage of punches. Shoulder checks. Two elbows and a punch more punches. 10-8 Holm.
Round 3 - They trade body kicks. Holm with a hard left and they start to trade. Holm looks for another takedown. they engaged in another long clinch battle with Holm landing a few shots. Holm looks for a bodylock takedown and got it. She gets to side. Holm lands a few more shots to maintain position. She falls back for a guillotine at the horn but it’s too late. 10-9 and 30-26 Holm.
Holly Holm defeated Megan Anderson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Andrei Arlovski vs. Tai Tuivasa
Round 1 - Arlovski tries to clinch but Tuivasa isn’t having it. Tuivasa throws a kick and Arlovski bodies him. Leg kick from Tuivasa. Arlovski lands a right. Front side kick from Andrei. Inside leg kick as well. Nice step-in straight left from Arlovski. Tuivasa ends up on top, right into full mount. That was odd. Andrei is locking him down. Tuivasa is bleeding, they may have clashed heads when they went to the floor. Arlovski finally escapes with two minutes to go. Tuivasa drops Arlovski with a punch! He lets him up. Andrei clinches nad looks for a takedown. Knee to the belly from Arlovski. They separate. Tuivasa with a two-punch combo. They trade rights. Tuivasa goes body/head. another big right. Arlovski fires back with his own. Head kick from Tuivasa and he slips. He awkwardly gets back up. 10-9 Tuivasa.
Round 2 - Front kick to the belly from Andrei. Inside leg kick from Arlovski. Arlovski with a big right over the top. Two short lefts from Arlovski. Tuivasa clinches. They separate rather quickly. Tuivasa lands a left hook, Andrei responds with a right. Double jab and a right hook from Tuivasa. Hard combo inside from Tuivasa. Spinning back fist from Arlvovski slaps Tuivasa. Tuivasa closes the distance with punches. Arlovski ties him up. Tuivasa’s nose is a mess. Arlovski gets Tuivasa to the mat but doesn’t follow him there. Body kick from Tuivasa. Andrei asks for time due to an eye poke. It wasn’t actually an eye poke, it was a Stockton Slap. Weird. Tuivasa restarts with a left hook. Inside leg kick from Arlovski. Andrei spins and misses. 10-9 Arlovski.
Round 3 - Arlovski with a low inside leg kick. Tuivasa jabs to the body. Arlovski with a counter right. Tuivasa with a nice right hook. Tuivasa goes to the body again. Uppercut from Tuivasa. Arlovski lands a right in return. The pace has slowed. Two minutes to go. Both men land hard shots. Tuivasa in with a hard left. He land a right that stuns Arlovski. Right hook over the top too. Body work and a right for AA. Now a hard jab. Still anyone’s fight. Inside leg kick from Tuivasa. Now to the outside. Andrei resets. Tuivasa with a right. They both start celebrating early, which was weird. Very tough to score. I’ll go 10-9 and 29-28 Tuivasa on damage.
Tai Tuivasa defeated Andrei Arlovski via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Round 1 - Punk misses with a leg kick. He lands the next one. Jackson with a jab and a right over the top. Punk lands a right and backs Jackson off. They’re in the clinch. They trade knees. Jackson reverses position. They separate. Punk with a leg kick. Body punch from Jackson. Punk with a right. Jackson with a straight left, and a body shot. Punk presses in again. They engage in the clinch. Knee from Punk. Another. Jackson separates and Punk looks for a takedown. They jockey across the cage. They separate and both land punches. Jackson stuffs another shot. Punk gets a takedown with 40 seconds to go. He lands an elbow. Jackson gets up with 15 seconds to go. Body shots from Jackson in close. Hard elbow over the top from Jackson. Punk’s nose is bleeding. 10-9 Jackson.
Round 2 - Punk lands a right and Jackson resets. Punk with a telegraphed takedown attempt. They clinch briefly, then break. Punk backs Jackson off with some punches. Jackson lands a hard shot that stuns Punk. Punk jumps on him and basically pulls guard. Jackson is clowning a bit in guard. He’s landing some punches. Punk is eating damage. Punk’s face is a mess. Punk looks for a triangle but Jackson pushes it away. Jackson is just lollygagging on top of him, not really trying. 10-8 Jackson.
Round 3 - Jackson with a jab. Punk initiates the clinch. He’s tired. Jackson could try to finish this, but he’s not. He lands a left and staggers Punk. Punk goes down, but Jackson makes him get back up. Punk with a left. Jackson is playing with him. Jackson with a big overhand right. He lands a couple of punches in the clinch. Punk won’t go down, but it’s all just heart at this point. Punk ties to roll to a kneebar but he couldn’t. Jackson lands a couple of punches in Punk’s guard. He moves to side with 40 seconds to go. Punk rolls over on top. The crowd boos at the end of the fight. 10-9 and 30-26 Jackson.
Mike Jackson defeated CM Punk via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Main card (10pm ET)