Bellator Signs Former UFC Light Heavyweight Title Challenger Yoel Romero

The Soldier of God has found a new home.

Shortly after he was released by the UFC, former multiple time title challenger Yoel Romero has signed with Bellator MMA:

Free agent Yoel Romero has agreed to a multi-fight deal with Bellator, sources told @arielhelwani.

Romero is expected to sign his new deal imminently. pic.twitter.com/su0RhBd8Ws

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 14, 2020

Romero spent the last seven years fighting under the UFC banner but in a surprise move, he was the first of what is expected to be a series of cuts to be made to the promotion’s “inflated’ roster.

Part of Serious Cuts

The UFC released Romero last week despite the Cuban being ranked 5th in the middleweight division and with still three fights left in his UFC contract. According to UFC President Dana White, Romero was part of “serious cuts” that the promotion is making before the end of the year. As to why Romero was included in the list, White mentioned his age (43 years old) and the fact that he has lost four out of his last five bouts.

Dana White explains Yoel Romero’s release as part of “serious cuts” being made to the UFC roster before the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/tdaXv1Gav9

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 6, 2020

Perhaps Romero’s last fight stuck in White’s mind. In his last octagon appearance, Romero challenged Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title at the main event of UFC 248. But instead of putting on a show, Romero lost via unanimous decision in one of the most lackluster main events of 2020. In that bout, Romero threw only 89 strikes and landed a mere 40 as he fought in spurts. White later said that he regretted booking that fight.

White is correct in saying that Romero has won just once in his last five bouts. But if you take away the Adesanya defeat, his three losses during that period were Fight of the Night winners and they came against former champion Robert Whitaker ( two times ) and former title challenger Paulo Costa. So despite his age, Romero was still as competitive and dangerous as the other contenders in the division.

Soldier of God

Romero is a former Olympic silver medalist and world gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. The Pinar del Rio, Cuba native joined the UFC in 2013 after losing his first MMA bout to Rafael Cavalcante at the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion. He won his first eight octagon assignments to earn a shot at the interim UFC middleweight title against Robert Whitaker at UFC 213.

Nov6.2013

In front of thousands of troops at Fort Campbell,

“The Soldier of God” Yoel Romero finishes Ronny Markes by knockout pic.twitter.com/95gGVQT5Gp

— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) November 6, 2020

He lost by decision to the Australian but after Whitaker spent time on the sidelines due to injury, he fought Luke Rockhold for the interim title again in his next bout. Romero knocked out Machida at UFC 221 but was ineligible to win the belt after missing weight. He would get another shot at Whitaker at UFC 225 but lost via split decision in another fight where he came in over the weight limit.

Overall, Romero has a record of 13-5 with 11 knockouts. He owns notable wins over former champions Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman, and Lyoto Machida as well as victories over former Strikeforce champion Jacare Souza and current no. 7 middleweight Derek Brunson.

Joining Rumble

By signing with the ViacomCBS operated promotion, Romero joins a light heavyweight division that is led by champion Vadim Nemkov who stunned two-weight division champion Ryan Bader via TKO at Bellator 244 last August. Aside from Nemkov and Bader, Bellator’s 205-pound division also has the likes of Cory Anderson, Phil Davis, Christian Edwards, and Gegard Mousasi.

Hot on the heels of their signing of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, @BellatorMMA is all set to secure the signature of Yoel Romero, who plans on fighting at 205 pounds. A Rumble vs. Romero matchup in 2021 would be absolute dynamite. https://t.co/CKeTphwpT2

— Simon Head (@simonhead) December 14, 2020

But the name that is in the news right now is Anthony “Rumble” Johnson whom Bellator recently signed. Like Romero, Johnson is a former UFC star and a two-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger and fans are already talking about a potential match-up between two of the most physically imposing fighters in the history of the UFC.

SportsBetting.ag has already come up with the opening odds for that potential showdown. According to the online sportsbook, Romero is the current -175 odds on favorite to beat Rumble, who is listed as a slight +150 betting underdog. If the oddsmakers are correct, it is a 50-50 fight that is surely going to light up the cage. Whether that happens right away or not remains to be seen. But with both fighters set to fight at 205 pounds, that’s one salivating matchup that Bellator has under its sleeve.