Former middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero has parted ways with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), per a report by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
According to sources, Romero had three fights left on his UFC contract.
Yoel Romero and the UFC have parted ways, multiple sources told @arielhelwani. pic.twitter.com/TdaoL9tNFZ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 5, 2020
Romero, 43, is coming off a lackluster decision loss to current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 this past March. “Soldier of God” has now lost his last three Octagon appearances dating back to June of 2018 when he was defeated by Robert Whittaker for the interim title.
Despite his inability to capture UFC gold in multiple title shots, Romero will still go down as one of the most physically gifted fighters to ever step foot inside of the Octagon. He’ll leave behind a 9-4 UFC record with highlight-reel finishes over former champions Luke Rockhold, Lyoto Machida, and Chris Weidman.
“While we didn’t expect Romero’s time in the UFC to end like this,” Romero’s manager, Malki Kawa, told ESPN, “we are grateful for the opportunities [UFC president] Dana White, [general counsel] Hunter Campbell and [matchmaker] Mick Maynard gave him over the years. He’s ready to move on now and resume his career, and we are already talking to other promotions as we speak.”
As of now, Romero is a free agent and can go wherever he’d like. While it would be fun to see “Soldier of God” compete in something outside the box like bare knuckle boxing, maybe Romero listens to teammate Jorge Masvidal and takes a shot at Jake Paul inside the ring.
Let’s do it @YoelRomeroMMA vs @jakepaul #supernecessary https://t.co/vlF1lnZl4O
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) December 4, 2020
Stick with Mania for more news on Romero’s UFC departure.