Vegas Play of the Day: Yoel Romero vs. Robert Whittaker at UFC 213

Image

L.E. Baskow

UFC213 middleweight fighter Yoel Romero greets opponent Robert Whittaker before facing off for the media at the T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, July 6, 2017.

Sat, Jul 8, 2017 (1:27 p.m.)

We’ve entered the fourth season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won back-to-back titles in the 2015-2016 and 2016-17 seasons, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015.

Yoel Romero plus-110 vs. Robert Whittaker: $300 to win $330

I guess you’re just going to have to take my word for it, but I had written my whole Play of the Day on why Valentina Shevchenko would beat Amanda Nunes right before the fight was canceled. I loved Shevchenko in the fight, partly because of signs of Nunes going through a rough weight cut, and am left with precious few other options as a replacement.

There’s so little I like elsewhere on the card that I’m left taking a 40-year-old fighting someone 14 years younger than him. That alone would be a recipe for disaster, but I can’t shake the feeling that Romero is poised to win this fight for the interim middleweight championship.

He should be able to outwrestle Whittaker and put him in compromising positions. Whittaker’s strength is striking, but Romero is strong and shrewd. It won’t be easy to put him away.

That being said, I’m betting the minimum for a reason. I don’t feel nearly as confident about Romero as I did Shevchenko.

Current Standings: Granger (2-0, $11,202), Keefer (1-0, $10,429), Grimala (0-1, $9,500), Brewer (0-1, $9,600)

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

Back to top

SHARE

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy