THROWBACK: When Yoel Romero Kissed His Opponent After Knocking Him Out

When the UFC went to Australia in 2018, the main event featured a fight between two good friends. Yoel Romero was challenging Luke Rockhold for the Middleweight title at UFC 221.

Romero defeated Rockhold via a third-round TKO. But what happened after that took the world by surprise. Romero kissed Rockhold after his knockout win. Both were known to be friends and hang out with each other.

“In my country, there’s a code. When you lend a hand to another person, you don’t backstab him. Never. If there’s a situation, and you don’t want to be in trouble, just keep away from it,” Romero said after the fight.

Although Romero and Rockhold were good friends, it did not seem so good when Romero received a suspension for a suspected doping violation. After Romero failed a drug test, Rockhold started criticizing in the media.

“When I had the problem with USADA, he and Michael Bisping were the two guys, the first two guys, who were talking a lot of (trash) about me,” Romero would later say in the MMA Hour where he also discussed kissing Rockhold. “Okay, Bisping is Bisping. I don’t have a relationship. Nothing (like a) relationship with this guy. But with [Rockhold]? Man, you talked like this about me? I said, okay. Because maybe he’s thinking, ‘Okay, this guy, 39 years old, the minimum (suspension) is two years out. (He’ll be) 41. Right? Bye bye, Yoel.’

Yoel Romero kissed Luke Rockhold to remind him of the good times that they had

After all that happened, Yeol kissed Luke and reminded him of the good times they had.

“In this moment, I said, ‘Hey, Luke. I love you,’” Romero said. “‘I love you. You remember the time when you were staying with me, hanging out, and you said, ‘Do you want to fight me?’ I said, ‘You remember? And you see what happened after USADA? You remember? I’m still here. I love you.’ He didn’t [say] anything, because he knows. He knows.