Is Romero a bad match up for Rockhold?

[Kung Fu bb]

Romero has excellent wrestling, so it´s gonna be very hard for Luke to take him down and use his ground game. And Luke can´t be sloppy there, cause we know Romero can explode with those knees.

The cuban fighter is also very defensively aware, he always stays in a safe distance, that´s why he hardly gets hit . And Rockhold has looked slow and predictable with his offense and sloppy and hittable with his defense lately. Romero is not exactly the combo type of guy, but he is good at exploding when the opportunities appear. And in his 2 last fights, Rockhold showed some glaring holes and got KOed by MB, and hit flush several times by Branch.

The bottom line is, I don´t see Luke being able to take Romero down and beat him on the ground. And on the feet, I see Romero being too fast and explosive for Rockhold, and capitalizing on one of those defensive holes that Luke has.



Thoughts?

 

[analog fuzz]

Pretty good matchup for him tbh.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

both have very good kicks. both strong grapplers.

both bad matchups for each other.

great fucking fight. definitely the #2 v #3 in a very top heavy division. what's not to like should be very skillful and violent.

 

[Jesse James]

I don't care for the Soldier of GOD or Lukifer....But I think the Soldier of GOD will prevail...quicker, stronger and a better finisher!

 

[Spycho]

Rockhold is going to try to pick him apart from the distance for a few rounds and when Romero gasses he's going to try to take him down. I hope Romero catches him and puts him away though.

 

[CBohl]

Rockhold matches up against anyone

 

[carpediem]

When this match was announced my first thought was pray for Rockhold.

 

[Megalodon]

Romero's striking isn't good enough to pick apart Luke and he won't want to take Luke down because of his ground game.

Outside of Luke maybe getting clipped I think he takes this fairly handily.

 

[Gangstub]

Wow, people on this forum really underate Rockhold, like this guy wasn't dominating the divison 2 1/2 years ago.

 

[RyuHayabusa]

A wrestlers nightmare is being on their back. Lukes grappling is solid. Romero willend up on his back at some point...... Then its freddy krueger time

 

[UhHuhSure]

I think so. He'll probably catch a kick and smash Rockhold.

 

[Pakman]

Wow, people on this forum really underate Rockhold, like this guy wasn't dominating the divison 2 1/2 years ago.

Luke for sure is awesome and yes he beat good fighters on his way up, but, I don't think he's being underrated at all. I think Yoel is not a great match-up for him.

Both have good kicks, Luke probably has the better ones, but, Yoel is also very good in that department. Luke doesn't have very good nor powerful hands on the feet, where as Yoel, maybe not the most 'technical' guy with amazing combos, has KO power. He's really explosive in short bursts and that's all thats needed for him to finish Luke I think.

Yoel has the wrestling advantage imo, but, in scrambles is where Luke is at his best. Luke isn't likely to try n shoot for TD's vs Yoel, think it'll mainly be a stand-up fight with lots of shots from the outside from both. Just think at some point, Yoel will explode and win this one by KO/TKO. If it goes to decision, I'd favor Luke as his cardio has been better in previous 5 round fights.

 

[DarkneT]

I think Luke's smart enough to win this fight

 

[Mebetter]

Pretty even fight I’ve seen Yoel get knocked out by Feijao so it’s not like he has an iron chin. If Luke reverses a Yoel takedown and ends up on top it’s a wrap.

Yoel was also rocked badly by Kennedy.

 

[hedidhisownstunts]

Once Yoel gets a hold of him, which he will, he’s going to smash him. Yoel champ.

 

[djacobox372]

Yoel is a bad matchup for just about everyone.

 

[ColombianFist]

Probably. we must remember Whittaker beat Romero with kicks to keep him away from using his wrestling, so i lean more in favor of Rockhold but in a fight a lot of things can happen.

 

[Elmo]

Rockhold matches up against anyone

Except for that Belfort...give the old man his TRT I say.

 

[Guile]

I love Romero but unfortunately this isn't going to go well for him. I think Luke finishes him in the 2nd or 3rd.

 

[phenomphan2]

Romero is a world class wrestler but not a world class grappler. Luke's scrambling is second to none.