According to Yoel Romero, he made a bet with friend and fellow Cuban fighter Jorge Masvidal that may cost each one a hefty amount of money.
Apart from their Cuban roots, Jorge Masvidal and Yoel Romero have another thing in common: both fighters are ranked at the top-five in their respective divisions. And according to “The Soldier of God”, he and “Gamebred” decided to make things a little interesting with the situation.
“The deal we have with Jorgie, he said to me, ‘Whoever wins the belt first this year, the other guy needs to pay for an all-expense-paid trip to Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic,’ where [they film] Exatlon,” Romero explained. “Party, vacation. It’s a beautiful place. It’s where they film the show, but it’s [off-site] where we want to go.”
Both fighters were recent guests on Exatlon Estados Unidos, a reality TV show where participants engage in physical challenges through obstacle courses. According to Romero, the deal they shook on may have been a driving force for Masvidal in his performance against Till.
“I know he stayed ready for the (Till) fight,” Romero said of Masvidal. “When he was coming out of Exatlon, he said to me, ‘Hey, we have a deal?’ I said, ‘Tell me.’ He said, ‘We’re going to see who wins the belt this year first.’ I said, ‘Okay, we have a deal.’ We shook on it, and we said okay, we have a deal. And now I know he wanted to kill this guy (Till). I know, because I know my guy.”
As for the post-fight scuffle with Leon Edwards, Romero expectedly sided with his friend.
“And what happened after the fight, outside of the fight — my guy is very humble, very humble,” he said. “I think other guy made him crazy, Leon, because Jorgie’s very humble. Jorgie doesn’t talk or anything, Jorgie is very humble. It is what it is.”
Romero is scheduled to face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in a rematch, which headlines the UFC’s ESPN 3 event on April 27th in Sunrise, Florida.