After a shocking development on Saturday afternoon, UFC 213 all of a sudden has a new main event. Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero will battle for the interim middleweight title after Amanda Nunes was forced to withdraw from her title defense against Valentina Shevchenko with an illness. Nunes was hospitalized early on Saturday, but according to UFC president Dana White was cleared to fight. White said Nunes was still not feeling it and was going to pull out.
In light of this, UFC 213 just got a little shakeup with Whittaker-Romero still a worthy headliner, but a bit of the luster has definitely been knocked off this card. Originally expected to feature T.J. Dillashaw against bantmaweight champ Cody Garbrandt in the main event, this is the second major change in the last couple weeks. Plus, Donald Cerrone vs. Robbie Lawler was pushed back to UFC 214 after Cerrone was hospitalized with a blood infection.
Nonetheless, we finally get to see Yoel Romero battle for UFC gold, albeit an interim belt, when he faces off with red-hot Robert Whittaker in the main event. The two fighters have a combined 15-fight winning streak, among the best active streaks in the company. If Whittaker is able to pressure Romero and keep him from taking the fight to the ground, it will be quite an interesting bout.
Here's how the fight card shakes out with the latest odds from Bovada.
UFC 213 fight card
| Favorite | Underdog | Weightclass |
|---|---|---|
Robert Whittaker -130 | Yoel Romero +100 | Interim middleweight title |
Curtis Blaydes -750 | Daniel Omielanczuk +475 | Heavyweight |
Alistair Overeem -135 | Fabricio Werdum +105 | Heavyweight |
Anthony Pettis -240 | Jim Miller +190 | Lightweight |
| Rob Font -325 | Douglas Silva de Andrade +250 | Bantamweight |
With a big card on tap, our experts took a crack at picking each of the main card fights. Here are your pick makers: Bill Reiter (national columnist), Brian Campbell (combat sports writer), Matthew Coca (producer), Michael Mormile (producer), and Brandon Wise (editor).
UFC 213 Expert Picks
| Fight | Reiter | Campbell | Coca | Mormile | Wise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Romero vs. Whittaker | Romero | Romero | Romero | Romero | Romero |
Omielanczuk vs. Blaydes | Blaydes | Blaydes | Blaydes | Blaydes | Blaydes |
Overeem vs. Werdum | Overeem | Werdum | Overeem | Werdum | Werdum |
Pettis vs. Miller | Pettis | Pettis | Pettis | Pettis | Miller |
| Records overall | 7-8 | 8-7 | 9-6 | 10-5 | 8-7 |
Reiter on why Romero will win: Romero's age, wisdom and experience translate to a calmer fighter in the Octagon. That means his strength bests Whittaker's speed, and in a fight that goes the distance, he's able to pull the upset and grind down through patience and experience of a fighter whose technically better, but turns out to be tactically less dangerous.
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Coca on why Overeem will win: A rubber match six years in the making and one neither Overeem nor Werdum can afford to lose. For Overeem, 58 fights into what will ultimately be a Hall of Fame career, and the one thing he's yet to get his hands on is the UFC heavyweight title. If Overeem can avoid getting taken down in the fight and it stays in the stand up, look for Overeem to land some massive punches and put Werdum to sleep. Overeem knows this could be his last chance to land a title shot and he's going to be ready to get there.
