Romero opens as a short ‘chalk’ vs. Whittaker
Published on Thursday, 6/15/17, at 2:11 p.m. Eastern.
5Dimes opened Yoel Romero as a -130 favorite over Robert Whittaker yesterday. These two will meet in the UFC 213 co-main event for the interim middleweight title.
The card will be headlined by Amanda Nunes’s second women’s bantamweight title defense against Valentina Shevchenko. I’ve been hyping Nunes as my pick at a -120 price for weeks.
As of early this afternoon, Romero was adjusted to a -120 ‘chalk,’ leaving Whittaker as the even-money underdog. The total was 1.5 rounds (‘over’ -155, ‘under’ +135).
Romero, the 40-year-old former Cuban Olympic wrestler, is 8-0 in the UFC. He has bagged five fight-night bonuses during his eight-fight run.
Whittaker, the 26-year-old striker from New Zealand, has ripped off seven consecutive wins since getting knocked out by Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at UFC 170 in February of 2014. Whittaker has earned four fight-night bonuses during his seven-fight surge. He is off a brutal second-round KO win over Jacare Souza.
Former champ Luke Rockhold has indicated that he’ll be on weight and ready to replace either fighter if one gets injured. Rockhold is supposed to fight Gegard Mousasi soon, and he’s on board to do so but Mousasi has yet to come to an agreement on a new contract with the promotion.