A lot of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters use nicknames because they sound cool, like Erik “Bad” Apple, who I can assure you doesn’t clomp around his living room thinking he’s a wormy piece of rotten fruit.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight No. 1 contender Yoel Romero, on the other hand, really believes he’s a “Soldier of God,” and hey, it’s working for him, so godspeed (see what I did there?) and all that jazz.
That’s why his reaction to Michael Bisping’s retirement was about what we expected.
“I pray for him, and his family,” Romero said on last Wednesday’s UFC 225 media conference call (via Tom Taylor). “[I hope] that he has a great life out of the fighting industry, and a prosperous life.”
That’s a far cry from some of the creepy comments Romero made (sample) when trying to wrangle “The Count” for a 185-pound title fight, which led to some of the greatest Instagram videos ever created.
“Aye Day-nah, gimme da fuck-ey boi!”
With Bisping able to play keep-away for the entirety of his middleweight title reign, Romero went on to smash Luke Rockhold and earn a Robert Whittaker title fight (and rematch) at UFC 225 later this month in Chicago.
For much more on that upcoming fight click here.