The much anticipated middleweight bout between Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza has been rescheduled. The two will now meet in the co-main event at UFC on FOX 15 on April 18.
UFC Tonight reported on Wednesday night that the fight has been officially rebooked for that card in Newark, New Jersey.
“Jacare” and Romero were supposed to fight on Feb. 28 at UFC 184 in Los Angeles, but the fight was postponed when it was learned that Souza had come down with pneumonia.
In the ever-changing land of the UFC middleweights, this fight could produce a contender for the winner of Vitor Belfort–Chris Weidman, which is being looked at for May. Currently “Jacare” sits at No. 2 in the media-driven UFC rankings, while the Cuban Romero sits at No. 6.
The fight is only potentially a No. 1 contender’s bout because UFC on FOX 15 will be headlined by two other top middleweights, Luke Rockhold (No. 5) and Lyoto Machida (No. 3), both of whom have cases for a title shot as well. The April 18 card will go a long way in clearing up the middleweight title picture.
Stretching back to his Strikeforce days, Souza (21-3-1) has won seven straight fights, including four in the UFC. In his last fight against Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 50, “Jacare” scored a performance of the night bonus with a third-round submission (guillotine). The last time Souza tasted defeat was back in 2011 when he lost the Strikeforce middleweight belt to Rockhold in a close decision.
Romero (9-1) is coming off of a controversial win over Tim Kennedy at UFC 178 in September, in which he appeared to linger in his corner between rounds long enough to recover from a near TKO. Confusion ensued, and when the 37-year old Cuban did come out, he was able to put Kennedy away via strikes just 38 seconds later. Overall, he’s won five fights in a row, all of them in the UFC.