UFC 225 Fight Card: PPV Schedule, Odds and Predictions for Whittaker vs. Romero

Saturday's UFC 225 pay-per-view in Chicago features one of the most intriguing fight cards of the year, headlined by Robert Whittaker in a rematch against Yoel Romero. 

The bout was originally supposed to be for Whittaker's UFC middleweight championship, but Romero missed weight and now isn't eligible to win the title. 

Whittaker defeated Romero in a close unanimous decision to win the interim title at UFC 213 last July. All three judges scored the bout 48-47 for the Australian. 

This will be Whitaker's first fight since that victory after a staph infection forced him to pull out of a title defense against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 in February.

Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington will compete for the UFC interim welterweight title in the co-main event. Current champion Tyron Woodley has been out of action since last July due to a shoulder injury that required surgery.

On the undercard, former WWE champion CM Punk will be making his return to the Octagon after a 21-month layoff to challenge Mike Jackson. 

Main Card (Begins at 10 p.m. ET on Pay-Per-View)

Robert Whittaker (19-4) (-240) vs. Yoel Romero (13-2) (+190)

UFC interim welterweight title: Rafael dos Anjos (28-9) (-120) vs. Colby Covington (13-1) (-110) 

Holly Holm (11-4) (-230) vs. Megan Anderson (8-2) (+180)

Andrei Arlovski (27-15, 1NC) (+215) vs. Tai Tuivasa (7-0) (-275)

CM Punk (0-1) (+175) vs. Mike Jackson (0-1) (-225)

Preliminary Card (Begins at 8 p.m. ET on FS1)

Alistair Overeem (43-16, 1NC) (+140) vs. Curtis Blaydes (9-1, 1NC) (-170)

Claudia Gadelha (15-3) (-500) vs. Carla Esparza (13-4) (+350)

Ricardo Lamas (18-6) (+175) vs. Mirsad Bektic (12-1) (-225)

Rashad Coulter (8-3) (-185) vs. Chris de la Rocha (4-2) (+150)

Opening Preliminary Card (at 6:15 p.m. ET on UFC Fight Pass)

Rashad Evans (19-7-1) (+240) vs. Anthony Smith (28-13) (-310)

Joseph Benavidez (25-4) (-250) vs. Sergio Pettis (16-3) (+195)

Clay Guida (34-17) (+130) vs. Charles Oliveira (22-8, 1NC) (-160)

Mike Santiago (20-11) (+115) vs. Dan Ige (8-2) (-145)

Note: All odds via OddsShark

Main Event Prediction

The first fight between Whittaker and Romero can be divided into two parts. 

Whittaker suffered ligament damage to his knee thanks to leg kicks from Romero early. The first two rounds were clear wins for Romero, who was in complete control of the pace. 

Unfortunately for Romero, he couldn't finish the fight, and the championship rounds showed a significant difference in conditioning between the two stars. 

Whittaker blocked 14 of Romero's 18 takedown attempts and had a 74-48 advantage in signature strikes, including 46-20 to the head, per FightMetric.com. 

Not being able to finish Whittaker is something that Romero has worked to correct this time around. 

"I made a mistake, and this time, we worked on the mistake I made in the last fight with (Whittaker)," Romero today told MMAjunkie. "On Saturday, we'll make it better. I had a moment in the fight I could've finished him, and I didn't. This time, I'll finish him."

Romero has only had three of his 15 career fights go the distance. UFC 213 brought his first five-round fight, and that lack of stamina eventually came back to haunt him. 

Age is also not on Romero's side. The Cuba native turned 41 years old on April 30. No one has ever won a UFC title for the first time in their career over the age of 40. 

Despite outlasting Romero in that previous fight, Whittaker acknowledged how dangerous the Cuban Missile is at his best, via MMAjunkie's John Morgan:

"I think if you break down the first fight, you can walk away with a lot of minor victories. I can be proud of an achievement such as getting over adversity, but Yoel's a dangerous dude. He catches you on the wrong day, he puts you out. He hits like a truck. He's dangerously explosive. He's No. 1 for a good reason. You have to give him the respect he deserves."

Whittaker has shown he's capable of winning in multiple ways. Of his 19 career victories, nine have come via knockout or TKO and five have come via submission, though he hasn't earned a submission since 2011. 

Over his past eight fights dating back to 2014, Whittaker has won either via decision or knockout. 

By comparison, Romero has won 11 of his 13 career fights by knockout. He knows the path to victory against Whittaker, since it nearly happened last year, but executing that plan is another matter. 

This is Whittaker's opportunity to become the face of the middleweight division with Michael Bisping retired and Georges St-Pierre's potential move back to welterweight. 

Prediction: Whittaker wins via unanimous decision