Luke Rockhold’s quest to become a two-time UFC champion has hit a major speed bump.
Rockhold had the opportunity to earn a shot at the middleweight title he lost to Michael Bisping in June 2016 in the main event of
UFC 221, which took place in Perth, Australia in the early hours of the morning.
In order to set up a clash with current middleweight king Robert, and claim the undisputed 185lbs title, Rockhold had to see off the challenge of Olympic silver medallist
Yoel Romero.
The California native was unable to get past the 40-year-old, suffering a third-round KO defeat to the Olympian.
The opening moments of the first round saw Rockhold immediately take the centre of the Octagon and pepper Romero with leg kicks.
As has become customary for most of his fights, the super explosive Romero started at a tentative pace.
He soon picked up the pace and began picking apart Rockhold’s lead leg with kicks of his own.
Romero stormed out of the blocks in the second round, swarming the former middleweight king and multiple power punches.
A retreating Rockhold weathered the storm and quickly went about mounting his own offence.
Unlike his last outing against Whittaker, Romero refrained from going for broke after finding a home for his left hand, which cost him dearly at UFC 213.
Round three saw Rockhold utilize his jab to keep Romero at bay.
Romero took notice of the lead punch and countered it with a huge left hand which sent Rockhold hurtling towards the canvas.
Romero made no mistake with the golden opportunity and swarmed on the fallen Rockhold, landing several punches before referee Marc Goddard called a halt to proceedings.