Yoel Romero will be fighting in the Bellator promotion.
The former UFC middleweight contender has agreed to a new multi-fight deal with Bellator and is set to compete in 2021 in the 205 light heavyweight division. Romero is expected to sign his new deal with Bellator imminently. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. The news comes a few days after Anthony Johnson, a former UFC fighter himself, signed to fight in Bellator too.
Yoel Romero is headed to Bellator.
Romero has agreed to a new deal with Bellator, sources say. He is expected to sign imminently.
He’ll debut for the promotion in 2021 at 205 pounds. His debut date and fight aren’t set yet, sources say.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 14, 2020
Less than two weeks ago, the Cuban made shocking headlines after the UFC had released him after more than seven years with the major promotion. Shortly after, Dana White said he was looking to probably cut around 60 UFC fighters from their ‘very inflated’ roster.
Romero last fought against Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight belt back in March but fell short of victory in what was criticized for being a very lackluster fight. He lost twice to Robert Whittaker and also dropped a fight to Paulo Costa in his past five fights. His lone victory in his past five fights was against Luke Rockhold. He will be looking to win an elusive world title in Bellator. Bellator’s current champion is Vadim Nemkov.
The ‘Soldier of God”, known for his explosive power and freakish athletic ability, predominantly fought in the 185-pound middleweight division however will be returning to the weight class when he made his MMA debut at light heavyweight in 2009. Romero has missed weight twice trying to make the middleweight 185-pound limit during his UFC tenure.
An Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling, Yoel Romero won his first eight UFC fights before losing to Robert Whittaker in an interim middleweight title bout. The Cuban would go on to fight for the title three more times but was never able to wrap UFC gold around his weight.
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