Yoel Romero News

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2019

On Saturday afternoon — mere hours before his scheduled fight with Kelvin Gastelum — UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker was rushed to the hospital for surgery as the result of a collapsed hernia. The champ is now facing a potentially lengthy recovery. Bad news for Gastelum, who is still waiting for his title shot, and surging contender Israel Adesanya, who also deserves a shot at gold. Luckily, Robert Whittaker has a suggestion for these two contenders, should they get bored while he recovers: fight Yoel Romero.

Chris Taylor - January 22, 2019

Former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero (13-3 MMA) will return to the octagon this Spring at UFC Miami. That news comes via Brazilian news outlet Combate, who broke the following news on Twitter.

Tom Taylor - November 13, 2018

Fearsome UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero has made several callouts of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the past, and apparently, it’s still a fight he’s interested in — especially now that his planned 2019 matchup with the undefeated Paulo Costa is off the table. The appeal of this fight with Anderson Silva, Yoel Romero explains, is that it would give him a clear sense of the level he’s at. If he can beat the middleweight legend, well then he’s right where he wants to be. If he can’t, then it might be time to reassess.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

After the UFC attempted once again to set up Yoel Romero vs Paulo Costa, it fell through and now Romero wants to face Anderson “The Spider” Silva. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC was planning to book Romero vs Costa as the main event of the UFC’s first event on ESPN+ which will take place on January 19 in Brooklyn, New York.

James Lynch - October 14, 2018

Luke Rockhold needs to take care of business on Nov. 3 in his rematch against Chris Weidman at UFC 230, but he already has his sights set on another former foe. Rockhold told TMZ Sports that he’s open to a rematch against Yoel Romero, the man who defeated him back February at UFC 222 by third-round knockout.

Tom Taylor - September 26, 2018

That UFC 230 main event we’ve been waiting for? Apparently, it’s in the works, and it’s an undeniably surprising one. According to a report from Ariel Helwani, the UFC is looking at booking a light heavyweight showdown between Alexander Gustafsson and Yoel Romero for the card. If the fight is indeed booked, it will reportedly be for a title, though it’s not certain whether the pair would be fighting for an interim or undisputed title.

Drake Riggs - August 20, 2018

Even though the UFC came out and announced the fight themselves, it looks like they may have gotten a bit too eager as Yoel Romero won’t be ready. The fight was supposed to be Romero vs the red-hot prospect Paulo Costa on November 3rd at UFC 230 in New York City.

Tom Taylor - July 24, 2018

UFC 230, which goes down on November 3 inside New York City’s hallowed Madison Square Garden, has grown by one absolutely dynamite matchup, as former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero is set to collide with surging knockout artist Paulo Costa. This bout was announced by the UFC on Tuesday afternoon.

Drake Riggs - July 12, 2018

Whether or not the new two-division champion of the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, Daniel Cormier is actually wanting to set up a fight with Yoel Romero…he sure is by continuing the back and forth with the top-ranked middleweight. After Romero’s announcement through his manager, Malki Kawa that he will be looking to jump up in weight classes following his second loss to middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, the Cuban targetted the 205-pound king.

Tom Taylor - July 12, 2018

Earlier this week, on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Yoel Romero’s manager Malki Kawa confirmed that, after a pair of weight-cutting blunders, the long-time middleweight contender plans to move to light heavyweight. The hope, Kawa said, was for Romero to meet Daniel Cormier in a light heavyweight title fight in his first fight back in the division. “So we are talking to UFC about him moving up to light heavyweight,” Kawa said. “And I think what we’re going to propose to them — well to be honest they offered us the Gustafsson fight and we accepted it. But Gustafsson needed to fight in August and Yoel wanted to fight later because he has to have surgery, he broke his orbital. So there are talks for him to fight at light heavyweight.”

Drake Riggs - July 11, 2018

Daniel Cormier is currently the hottest commodity in the MMA world. And after becoming a dual-division champion at UFC 226, rightfully so. Everyone has their eyes on the light heavyweight and heavyweight titleholder and that ranges from fans to fighters. Some of which being former fighters looking to return like Brock Lesnar and currently active fighters looking to enter into one of Cormier’s divisions.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2018

After missing weight for two consecutive middleweight fights — an interim title fight with Luke Rockhold and an undisputed title fight with Robert Whittaker — Yoel Romero is most likely headed up to the 205-pound light heavyweight division. Romero’s manager Malki Kawa confirmed this plan on Monday’s episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA show on ESPN. Apparently, the plan was originally for Romero to fight Swedish light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson, but the pair’s scheduling didn’t line up. With that plan off the table, the new hope is for Romero to battle Daniel Cormier for light heavyweight gold.

Tom Taylor - June 28, 2018

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker felt that Yoel Romero changed quite significantly between their first and second fights. According to Whittaker, Romero felt more or less normal when they first fought, and more like “metal” or “concrete” when they met for a second time at UFC 225 earlier this month. “When I was punching and kicking him [at UFC 225] he felt like metal — like a dude made out of concrete, it was a ridiculous,” Whittaker said on Grange TV.  “I fought him a year ago, and he didn’t feel like concrete. Not like that.”

Drake Riggs - June 21, 2018

Earlier this month, we were treated to an instant classic in the middleweight division as Robert Whittaker made his first title defense in a rematch against Yoel Romero. The fight was a war throughout the whole five rounds, but apparently it could have came to a stop earlier than that had Romero not made some adjustments. Whittaker would win the very close battle via split decision. The fight didn’t officially count as a title defense either as Romero missed weight heading into the clash.

Tom Taylor - June 12, 2018

Yoel Romero has now been compared to steel by two former opponents. The first man to compare Romero to steel was former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Now, reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has borrowed this metaphor, using it to describe the incredibly uncomfortable experience of fighting the Cuban behemoth. “This time, he felt like steel,” Whittaker told The Daily Telegraph of his second and most recent fight with Romero, which headlined the stacked UFC 225 last Saturday night. “I was punching and kicking him but it wasn’t doing any damage. He was walking forward through everything. It was weird.”

Tom Taylor - June 12, 2018

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker now holds two wins over fearsome middleweight contender Yoel Romero. Both, however, were competitive and truly thrilling fights. Given the close nature of the pair’s two fights — particularly the latter, which headlined UFC 225 last weekend — there’s been widespread chatter about a potential third fight between the two. Whittaker, however, isn’t so sure a third fight is necessary. The Australian champion addressed a potential trilogy fight with Romero on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2018

Last night, in the main event of UFC 225, Yoel Romero gave up a competitive — and somewhat controversial — split decision to reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. With this result, Romero falls to 0-2 against the current champ, which represents a tough situation for any contender. Romero’s situation looks even more uncertain when you consider the fact that he has now missed the 185-pound limit for middleweight title fights on two separate occasions. When it comes to options for the 41-year-old Cuban’s next fight, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has one of the more interesting ideas. He thinks Romero should head north to the light heavyweight division, where he’ll have to endure a less taxing cut, to battle long-time contender Alexander Gustafsson to establish a true light heavyweight champion in the division. This is a particularly interesting idea given that Cormier is currently tied up with a looming heavyweight title shot opposite Stipe Miocic, which leaves Gustafsson without a worthy adversary.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the stacked UFC 225, middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and top middleweight contender Yoel Romero met for a second time — though Romero was not eligible to win the title due to a slight weigh-in miss. The pair’s main event showdown would go down as one of the very best fights of the year, complete with several near-stoppages, and some truly incredible momentum shifts. In the end, Whittaker would win this bout with a somewhat controversial split decision, moving to 2-0 over the fearsome Cuban in the process. That being said, there are really no losers in a war of this kind, which truly riveted the MMA community from beginning to end.