Yoel Romero is headed to his new home in Bellator MMA. The multi-time UFC middleweight contender will fight at light heavyweight in his new promotional home. The announcement has come just a few weeks following the release of Romero from the UFC.
Ariel Helwani of ESPN was the first to report the details of the new signing. The promotional debut of the Cuban will come in 2021 at 205-pounds. Thus, Romero will be moving up a weight class from his usual weight class of 185-pounds.
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
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A former Olympic medallist, Romero hasn’t seen a lot of success in his recent UFC outings. He is coming off a hat-trick of losses in his past three outings. However, it is noteworthy that two of the three losses were title fights against middleweight champs Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. The third loss was against top contender Paulo Costa.
At age 43, Romero is a physical specimen and one of the most athletic fighters on the UFC roster. However, Dana White cited that his age and his recent poor record was the reason why he was released from the promotion.
Bellator had initially passed on signing Yoel Romero
Following his release, Yoel Romero quickly became one of the hottest free agents in the market. However, despite his popularity among the fans, Bellator CEO Scott Coker initially didn’t seem very inclined towards signing Romero.
Coker argued that his promotion had moved away from signing the OGs of the sport as they had built their roster from the ground up with up-and-coming talent. However, Romero’s manager, Malki Kawa, refuted the claim that Bellator has distanced itself from signing Romero.
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Initially, Bellator officials passed on Romero, however, after further talks last week, and with a new chapter at 205, the two sides were able to come to an agreement very recently.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 14, 2020
As per Ariel Helwani, the decision to sign Romero came after a further round of discussion last week. ‘The Soldier of God’ will be joining a roster that currently has Vadim Nemkov as its champion. Along with Romero, former UFC light heavyweight Corey Anderson has also signed with Bellator recently.
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The UFC’s decision to cut Romero also came with the news that around sixty more cuts around the corner, with the year coming to an end. Dana White has hinted that several big old names will be let go from the promotion soon.
Read More: Dana White Announces Big News – Says Lot of Fighters Will Be Let Go
