1. Yoel Romero vs. Luke Rockhold
UFC 221 “Romero vs. Rockhold”
Feb. 10 | Perth, Australia
With undisputed middleweight champion Robert Whittaker shelved by shoulder surgery and a subsequent staph infection, Romero and Rockhold will butt heads over an interim title and the right to face “Bobby Knuckles” in a unification bout later this year. A freakish athlete even at age 40, Romero saw his career-best eight-fight winning streak grind to a halt in a unanimous decision loss to Whittaker at UFC 213 in July. The 2000 Olympic silver medalist owns wins over former UFC champions Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida, onetime Strikeforce titleholder Ronaldo Souza, Tim Kennedy and Derek Brunson. Rockhold last competed on Sept. 16, when he struck former two-division World Series of Fighting champion David Branch into submission in the UFC Fight Night 116 main event. Now training under Henri Hooft, the Santa Cruz, California, native has secured 14 of his 16 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

Sherdog’s Top 10 series is voted upon by a panel of Sherdog.com staff members and contributors: Jordan Breen, Tristen Critchfield, Mike Fridley, Brian Knapp, Eric Stinton, Jesse Denis, Todd Martin, Josh Stillman, Nick Grinups and Anthony Walker.