He may turn 42-years-old in a few weeks time but Yoel Romero’s fighting aspirations are showing no signs of being ravaged by Father Time.
The former Olympic wrestler and occasional UFC title challenger is set to rematch Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza at UFC on ESPN 3 in Sunrise, Florida on April 27th next more than three years removed from their first meeting, a split decision at UFC 194. A win, he hopes, would parlay the Cuban into a shot at the 185-pound title currently held by Robert Whittaker.
One problem: two of Romero’s three career defeats have come via the hands of Whittaker. To make matters worse, Romero has missed the middleweight limit in both of his last fights, an interim title clash with Luke Rockhold and his June 2018 title defeat to Whittaker.
It remains to be seen if the ‘Soldier of God’ will be able to resurrect his title aspirations at 185-pounds but as the Cuban has said, he is aiming to joins the UFC’s exclusive ‘champ champ’ club.
“Yeah, of course [I want to stay at middleweight]. Me, my coaches and my team, we are only thinking about winning the belt at 185,” Romero announced via The Body Lock.
“I don’t know what’s going on now, about fighting in the other division but [I’m] only thinking about 185.
“I said I will take the belt [at middleweight] and then we can make a business deal with the UFC and go to another division and take another belt.”
While it remains to be see exactly how Yoel Romero would fare at 205-pounds he will no doubt he heartened by the recent trend of fighters moving up in weight to ease the burden of their weight cuts — many of whom who have seen immediate success in their new divisions.
