Whittaker guts out unanimous decision over Romero to win interim 185-lb title

Warning: Video contains coarse language

"The Reaper" came to collect on Saturday, and collect he did.

After dropping the first two rounds to Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker rallied to win a unanimous decision by three scores of 48-47 and become the interim middleweight champion in the main event of UFC 213 in Las Vegas.

The 26-year-old punched his ticket to a title unification bout opposite undisputed champion Michael Bisping with his seventh straight victory since moving up from 170 pounds, and the brash Brit promptly rained on his parade and belittled his triumph moments after the official decision.

In addition to netting him his first major world title, Whittaker's gutsy effort snapped Romero's eight-fight win streak and marked the first blemish on the Cuban's UFC record. He now owns the division's longest active winning streak.

The Aussie appeared destined for an agonizing night in short order, as an oblique kick to the left knee from Romero put a significant damper on his offense and allowed his foe to steal the first two frames with his Olympic-level wrestling.

Whittaker's otherworldly takedown defense bore fruit in Round 3. Romero's ill-fated efforts to keep Whittaker pinned to the canvas sapped his gas tank, and Whittaker exploited his subpar conditioning with some calculated striking that finally got the Cuban's attention.

The Reaper gradually opened up his offense as Romero's withered away in the fourth, tying them up at two stanzas apiece heading into the pivotal fifth.

A desperate Romero threw bombs early, only for Whittaker to respond with some flurries of his own and leave little doubt as to who was the more polished striker.

Whittaker wouldn't seal Romero's fate until the nail biter's final minute, as he exploited his exhausted, tripped up adversary with some nasty elbows from top control and make the judges' duties far less burdensome.

Now a winner of eight straight - the first of which came at welterweight - Whittaker's UFC record sits at a solid 10-2, while Romero tastes defeat for the first time since September 2011 and the second in 14 professional contests.