Michael Bisping and Robert Whittaker face off after UFC 213 main event between Whittaker and Yoel Romero. Credit: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC champion threw his title on the floor after Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero saved the UFC with Fight of the Year contender

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Jamie Theodosi | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 11:57 AM ET

On this day in 2017, Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero took part in one of the Fights of the Year after saving the UFC 213 event.

There have been many incredible rivalries in UFC history with the most notable being between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.

However, one of the greatest middleweight rivalries came between Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero, and not because the two stars had a hatred for each other.

It wasn’t until July 8 2017 when the two first met in the UFC Octagon when they scrapped it out for the interim middleweight title in a legendary fight.

Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

Whittaker and Romero saved UFC 213 after Amanda Nunes withdrew hours before event

Initially, the UFC 213 main event was set to be competed between two of the greatest female fighters of all time in Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko.

The two first clashed in 2016 at UFC 196 on the undercard of McGregor vs Diaz and ‘The Lioness’ picked up the unanimous decision win.

Nunes went on to win the bantamweight title and fans called for a rematch to take place between the two and it was officially booked for the UFC 213 main event. Despite that, just hours before the event started, Nunes withdrew from the bout due to illness, leaving Whittaker and Romero as the main event.

Early on in the fight, ‘The Soldier of God’ showcased his wild fight style and attempted to utilise his incredible wrestling to take Whittaker down to the ground.

It wasn’t until the second round when Romero finally landed a takedown on ‘The Reaper’, however, he was unable to do much with it as the Australian made his way back to his feet soon after.

It was in the third round when Whittaker began having more success with his striking, as Romero looked to tire the longer the fight went on.

Again in rounds four and five, Whittaker controlled as Romero attempted to continue with his wrestling but couldn’t get anything going and was on the wrong side of a unanimous decision.

Michael Bisping threw his UFC title on the floor after Whittaker’s win

With his win over Romero, Whittaker was supposed to have earned himself a fight against then-undisputed middleweight champion, Michael Bisping.

The British champion stepped into the Octagon after the fight and subsequently threw his title on the floor in rage after being ‘disgusted’ with the fact that Whittaker was stood celebrating with the interim title.

Bisping didn’t go on to fight ‘The Reaper’ and instead fought against Georges St-Pierre, subsequently losing his title. ‘GSP’ retired soon after and Whittaker was upgraded to the undisputed champion.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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