Kevin Holland has revealed he was planning to call out Yoel Romero after his fight against Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza at UFC 256.
Unfortunately, that plan is now off the table after it was revealed Romero has been released from his UFC contract last week.
The 43-year-old Cuban favourite last featured at UFC 248 in March, dropping a unanimous decision defeat to current 185-pound titleholder, Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya, in a largely uneventful main event clash. Prior to that Romero dropped back-to-back razor thin decision defeats to Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker.
A shocked MMA community reacted angrily to the cutting of Romero, but UFC president Dana White pointed to the long-time middleweight contenders current record and age as factors, he said.
“We’re going to go through some serious cuts here at the end of the year… And Yoel has lost 4 of his last 5, he’s 44 years old and our roster is very inflated right now.”
Ahead of his fight with Souza, Holland expressed his shock and sadness to see Romero cut – especially as he planned to call out the Cuban if he gets by ‘Jacare’ on Saturday night.
“Yeah, that really sucks that Yoel Romero’s done,” Holland told Submission Radio. “That was actually the fight that I was going to call out next. But if he’s gone, he’s gone. Props to him. Have fun in your next career. By the time I get out of the UFC, I’ll be old too and I won’t want to fight no more. So, I plan on finishing my career here. So, if he’s done, he’s done. If he’s going somewhere else, best of luck in his career. Props to him. He’s a legend. I just want to simply fight some legends, that’s all there is too it. And plus, that get me closer to a BMF-type title fight, huh? So, I’m just searching for those types of things, fun, fun fights.”
Who do you think Kevin Holland should call out if he beats ‘Jacare’ at UFC 256?