The best and worst from UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2

#2 Best: The crazy war between Romero and Costa

The war between Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero was one of 2019's best fights

On a show with so many amazing fights, the best thing on offer was definitely the Middleweight war between Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa. The two 185lbers – who resemble cartoon characters when it comes to their physiques – traded insane strikes for the full 15 minutes, and while it was Costa who came away with his hand raised, in a fight this good there’s no real loser.

‘The Eraser’ – who was making a huge step up from facing a fringe contender last time out in Uriah Hall to a proven elite-level Middleweight in Romero – showed that not only does he belong at the top of the division, but he can also thrive there, and with this win he should probably receive a shot at the winner of the upcoming Robert Whittaker/Israel Adesanya fight.

Can he win? He puts pressure on his opponents like few others, so there’s definitely a chance.

As for Romero, he fought an odd fight, allowing Costa to back him up and largely work him over in the first two rounds, but he did so much damage to the Brazilian in the third round that if the fight were being scored as a whole – as it was in PRIDE – then there’d have been a case for him winning.

Even with the current scoring system, there was an argument for the Cuban getting the nod due to his late second-round surge.

Basically then, this was exactly why MMA has become so popular; two super-athletes swinging huge punches at one another and somehow absorbing a ludicrous amount of punishment over 15 minutes. This was one of the best fights of 2019, point-blank.

Fireworks from minute 1️⃣!5️⃣0️⃣Gs for @BorrachinhaMMA & @YoelRomeroMMA! @ToyoTires #UFC241 pic.twitter.com/cIKY2zbKxc

— UFC (@ufc) August 18, 2019