Whittaker: No Special Diet Makes Romero Perform Like That

UFC 225 featured an instant classic between reigning undisputed middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and perennial middleweight contender Yoel Romero. With a controversial split-decision victory over Romero, Robert Whittaker now owns two victories over Yoel Romero, providing the only two losses on the Soldier of God’s UFC résumé. Following Whittaker’s first successful title defense, he spoke with GrangeTV and spoke about the difference between 2017 Yoel Romero and 2018 Romero, and the middleweight champion seems stumped at how someone Romero’s age could have his performance enhanced so drastically within one year’s time:

“He’s a top caliber athlete, but for him to come back the way he did and for him to feel so differently and to perform so differently than he did a year ago,” Whittaker began. “Let’s not forget, I have fought him before. I have experienced his shots. I have experienced landing shots on him. I have experienced him, fighting him before.

“For him to make those changes physically and athletically in a year, at the age of 40, I’m leaving that down to nothing more than magic. I can’t see you jumping on a special diet filled with kale and good fruits and performing like that.”