Yoel Romero fails pre-fight medical, forced out of Anthony Johnson fight

Yoel Romero is out of his fight against Anthony Johnson on May 7.

Romero and Johnson were set to make their Bellator debuts in the quarterfinals of the light heavyweight grand prix. It was a highly-anticipated fight but on Thursday evening, the promotion revealed to CBS Sports that Romero is out of the scrap and the tournament after he failed his pre-fight medical. The nature of Romero’s issue of why he failed the medical was not disclosed.

“Romero will become eligible to reapply for clearance to compete in three months, and we look forward to seeing him make his Bellator debut in the near future,” Bellator said in a statement to CBS Sports. “Bellator MMA will look to reschedule the highly anticipated Johnson versus Romero matchup at a future date.”

Image via @ufc on Instagram (photographer not listed)

Romero and Johnson were supposed to fight in the co-main event of Bellator 258 on May 7. This is obviously disappointing news for MMA fans and Bellator. This was a massive fight that many fans were excited about. According to the report, the promotion will name an alternate to face “Rumble” although it remains uncertain whether that fight will remain on the fight card.

Yoel Romero has not fought since he suffered a decision loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 for the middleweight title. It was a lackluster fight where both men rarely engaged and left the crowd booing. Before the loss to Adesanya, Romero suffered back-to-back controversial decision losses to Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker. The Cuban is just 1-4 in his last five. But, has been fighting the elite of the middleweight division and remains a fan favorite. Many were excited to see how he would fare at light heavyweight.

At this time, it’s uncertain what this means for the fighting future of Yoel Romero. But, what is known is that he is out of the May 7 fight against Rumble Johnson.

What do you make of Yoel Romero failing his pre-fight medical?