Australian UFC fighter Robert Whittaker defeats Cuban wrestler Yoel Romero

Robert Whittaker has defeated Yoel Romero in an intense five-round bout at UFC 225.

Whittaker won by split decision against Cuban wrestler Romero in their epic rematch at the United Centre in Chicago on Sunday.

Whittaker managed to win the fight despite breaking his hand partway through it. 

Romero’s inability to make the correct weight for the fight meant Whittaker’s middleweight title belt was not on the line.

Romero’s inability to make the correct weight for the fight meant Whittaker’s middleweight title belt was not on the line

Before the fight, Whittaker was keen to put on a good show to consolidate his already impressive reputation after outpointing Romero in a memorable interim title fight last July.

‘Pay attention – on Sunday I’m going to put on fireworks and I’ll put on a show,’ he said.

‘I’ve been trying to increase my skill sets across the board so come the fight, you’re going to see a collective gain of all those which will result in me being better.

‘I’m going to be a better version of me, he had a hard enough time dealing with the first one, we’ll see how he handles the second one.’ 

Fellow Australian fighter Tai ‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa defeated Andrei Arlovski on the event’s undercard, and celebrated in style with a ‘shoey’.

Whittaker was keen to put on a good show to consolidate his already impressive reputation after outpointing Romero in a memorable interim title fight last July

He asked commentator Joe Rogan if he could borrow his shoe to drink out of before finding one in the crowd.

He also walked out to Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – the theme from Titanic – as his entrance music. 

The western Sydney heavyweight improved his record to 10-0, and is set to move into the top 10 heavyweight rankings.

In the women’s division, Holly Holm defeated Australian Megan Anderson via unanimous decision. 

 Whittaker won the fight against Romero by split decision in their epic rematch