Yoel Romero’s unsettling wax-and-wane approach claimed yet another victim in the disheveled Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division.
The 2000 Olympic silver medalist blew away former 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold with punches in the third round of their UFC 221 main event on Saturday before an announced crowd of 12,437 at Perth Arena in Perth Australia. Romero drew the curtain 1:48 into Round 3, recording the seventh third-round finish of his career.
Rockhold appeared to have the upper hand when the fight-ending sequence occurred. The 33-year-old Santa Cruz, California, native had kept Romero at bay with kicks and grown increasingly effective with his jab.