Tag: Yoel Romero

Yoel Romero vs. Alex Polizzi Set For Bellator 280 On May 6

Yoel Romero will now face Alex Polizzi at Bellator 280 following the late withdrawal of his original opponent, Melvin Manhoef. The light heavyweight bout was initially reported by Dutch outlet Redactie Telesport. It will feature as the co-main event of Bellator 280, which will take place on May 6 at AccorHotels Arena in Paris. Rising…

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Yoel Romero will now face Alex Polizzi at Bellator 280 following the late withdrawal of his original opponent, Melvin Manhoef.

The light heavyweight bout was initially reported by Dutch outlet Redactie Telesport. It will feature as the co-main event of Bellator 280, which will take place on May 6 at AccorHotels Arena in Paris.

Rising light heavyweight Polizzi is stepping in on short notice due to an injury sustained by Romero’s original opponent, Manhoef. According to Redactie Telesport, Manhoef was injured while apprehending three alleged attempted burglars.

Polizzi will go into the bout riding a three-fight win streak. The 30-year-old has lost just once since making his Bellator debut in 2020. In March this year, Polizzi defeated Jose Augusto Azevedo via rear-naked choke, and in September 2021, earned a split-decision win over Grant Neal.

Romero Davis
PHOTO: BELLATOR

Meanwhile, Romero will be attempting to achieve his first win in Bellator. The 43-year-old lost to Phil Davis via split decision in his promotional debut in September last year. Romero is now riding a four-fight losing streak, having previously lost to Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa, and Robert Whittaker as a UFC middleweight.

With the change to the co-main event, the Bellator 280 lineup now includes:

Ryan Bader vs. Cheick Kongo

Yoel Romero vs Alex Polizzi

Lorenz Larkin vs. Kyle Stewart

Davion Franklin vs. TBA

Soren Bak vs. Charlie Leary

Gavin Hughes vs. Yves Landu

Pedro Carvalho vs. Piotr Niedzielski

Gregory Babene vs. Mike Shipman

Thibault Gouti vs. Lewis Long

Fabacary Diatta def. Jordan Barton

Joel Kouadja vs. Nicolo Solli

Lucie Bertaud vs. Katarzyna Sadura

Bourama Camara vs. Victor Verchere

Mathieu Ducios vs. Youcef Ouabbas

Who do you think will have their hand raised at Bellator 280, Yoel Romero or Alex Polizzi?

Continue Reading Yoel Romero vs. Alex Polizzi Set For Bellator 280 On May 6 at MMA News.

Yoel Romero Set To Return To Bellator Against Melvin Manhoef On May 6

Yoel Romero will be getting back in the Bellator cage in Paris. After his promotional debut with Bellator didn’t go his way, Yoel Romero is scheduled to take another shot at a win. Romero will be taking on Melvin Manhoef at the upcoming Bellator Paris event set to take place on May 6. The news…

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Yoel Romero will be getting back in the Bellator cage in Paris.

After his promotional debut with Bellator didn’t go his way, Yoel Romero is scheduled to take another shot at a win. Romero will be taking on Melvin Manhoef at the upcoming Bellator Paris event set to take place on May 6. The news was first announced by the promotion in a press release. This matchup will serve as the co-main event.

The news of Bellator holding an event in France was met with applause by fighters and fans. Mixed martial arts as a sport was not legal in France until 2020. With the difficulty of holding an event during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of professional events held in the country has been minimal. Bellator held an event in Paris back in October of 2020 and it was a great success, so much so that they are doing it again.

Adding Romero to this card will bring the star power that fans want to see. His signing with the organization after leaving the UFC was met with high praise. Unfortunately, Romero didn’t start off the way he had planned. He lost his first Bellator fight back in September to Phil Davis. He will have the chance to right the ship against Manhoef.

Manhoef will be coming into this fight having lost his last outing as well. He lost via KO against Corey Anderson in Nov. of 2020. Prior to that, however, he won two in a row, both in Europe. Perhaps fighting in Europe could be his lucky charm, as he will have the chance to see against the hype of Romero.

Bellator Paris will take place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France on May. 6.

The full fight card to date is as follows:

Heavyweight World Title Main Event: #C-Ryan Bader (29-7, 1 NC) vs. #2-Cheick Kongo (31-11-2, 1 NC)

Light Heavyweight Co-Main Event: Yoel Romero (13-6) vs. #10-Melvin Manhoef (32-15-1, 2 NC)

Lightweight Bout: Søren Bak (15-1) vs. Saul Rogers (15-4)

Lightweight Bout: Yves Landu (16-9) vs. Gavin Hughes (10-2)

Who do you have winning this light heavyweight matchup?

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Yoel Romero vs. Melvin Manhoef Set For Bellator Paris

Yoel RomeroYoel Romero will make his sophomore Bellator appearance when the promotion heads to Paris, France on May 6. The 44-year-old is set to face Melvin Manhoef in the co-main event of the card that will be topped by a heavyweight title fight between Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo. Yoel Romero’s Career Hasn’t Gone Great As […]

Yoel Romero

Yoel Romero will make his sophomore Bellator appearance when the promotion heads to Paris, France on May 6. The 44-year-old is set to face Melvin Manhoef in the co-main event of the card that will be topped by a heavyweight title fight between Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo.

Yoel Romero’s Career Hasn’t Gone Great As Of Late

Romero made his promotional debut last September at Bellator 266 when he took on Phil Davis in the event’s light heavyweight headliner. Despite a closely-contested first-round, Romero would comfortably lose the next two rounds as Davis earned the split decision verdict. It makes it four defeats in a row for Romero who suffered losses to Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker before he was released by the UFC.

At Bellator Paris, Romero faces the 45-year-old Manhoef who is coming off a second-round TKO defeat to Corey Anderson last time out. Prior to that, Manhoef rolled back the year to string together back-to-back wins over Yannick Bahati and Kent Kauppinen.

The Bellator light-heavyweight strap will be on the line when Vadim Nemkov takes on Corey Anderson in the 205lb Grand Prix final later this year.

Do you think Yoel Romero will get his first Bellator win when he takes on Melvin Manhoef at Bellator Paris on May 6?

Scott Coker: Yoel Romero Will Be Back After Bellator Debut Defeat

RomeroBellator MMA president Scott Coker still believes Yoel Romero has plenty of offer. Romero made his promotional debut last night at Bellator 266 when he took on Phil Davis in the event’s light heavyweight headliner. Despite a closely-contested first round, Romero would comfortably lose the next two rounds as Davis earned the split decision verdict. […]

Romero

Bellator MMA president Scott Coker still believes Yoel Romero has plenty of offer.

Romero made his promotional debut last night at Bellator 266 when he took on Phil Davis in the event’s light heavyweight headliner.

Despite a closely-contested first round, Romero would comfortably lose the next two rounds as Davis earned the split decision verdict. It makes it four defeats in a row for Romero with many observers believing he is now well past it.

However, Coker believes it was just a case of Davis showing that he’s one of the best fighters in the sport and that Romero will undoubtedly be back soon.

“I think that Phil is an amazing fighter, as we all know, and he just delivered another solid performance,” Coker said at the post-fight news conference (via MMA Junkie). “He fought smart. Yoel is still dangerous. If he hits you, it’s over. I think Phil probably felt that power early on, so he tried to stick and move a little bit. He took him down a couple times. I loved the fight. I thought that it was a great fight. I’m telling you, Yoel will be back. This is, to me, his comeback fight. It’s been how long since he fought? We give him another fight, and he’ll be really, really ready for the next one.

“… Anybody that can do what he does. Again, give this guy another camp and another big fight, I think he’s going to come in and start throwing bombs on people. He’s a dangerous individual. You guys saw it. One punch, and it’s going to be over. He’s that guy.”

While it was also Romero’s first fight at 205 pounds in a long time, Coker would like for him to remain in the weight class. However, there are middleweight options for the “Soldier of God” as well.

“I’m going to talk to him, because I’d love for him to maybe fight and maybe stay at 205,” Coker added. “Gegard (Mousasi) is going to be busy beginning of next year fighting Austin (Vanderford). If that division opens up, and he wants to go down and fight the winner of that fight, we’d love to do that, too.

“We have a lot of exciting options for Romero, and I’m excited to put them all together.”

What do you think should be next for Romero?

Phil Davis Outworks Yoel Romero – Bellator 266 Highlights

Davis RomeroPhil Davis made sure Yoel Romero didn’t get his Bellator career off to a winning start. The pair collide in a light heavyweight headliner at Bellator 266 on Saturday night. After a close first round in which Davis just about edged it, the former Bellator champion started taking control in the second round by landing […]

Davis Romero

Phil Davis made sure Yoel Romero didn’t get his Bellator career off to a winning start.

The pair collide in a light heavyweight headliner at Bellator 266 on Saturday night. After a close first round in which Davis just about edged it, the former Bellator champion started taking control in the second round by landing big shots and securing a takedown late on.

It was the third round that was the most decisive for Davis as he landed multiple takedowns on Romero and controlled him for majority of the round.

Surprisingly, it was a split decision but there was no robbery as two of three judges scored it to Davis.

Check out the highlights below:

Yoel Romero Channels Inner Bernard Hopkins, Wants To Fight Into His 50s

Yoel Romero won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Romero is a member of the Bellator roster. He’ll be making his promotional debut on Sept. 18 against former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Phil Davis. This will be Romero’s first bout since a failed bid at the UFC Middleweight Championship against Israel Adesanya back in March 2020. […]

Continue Reading Yoel Romero Channels Inner Bernard Hopkins, Wants To Fight Into His 50s at MMA News.

Yoel Romero won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

Romero is a member of the Bellator roster. He’ll be making his promotional debut on Sept. 18 against former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Phil Davis. This will be Romero’s first bout since a failed bid at the UFC Middleweight Championship against Israel Adesanya back in March 2020.

“The Soldier of God” and the UFC ended up parting ways in late 2020. During an interview with Tom Taylor of Bleacher Report, Romero said he was never worried about finding a new promotion to call home.

“When you do something very, very well and you really dedicate yourself to it, you’ll be sought-after. To be honest, I don’t think I did anything wrong in the UFC. I knew I was going to find work. I knew my work and my talent would be in demand, and Bellator became home.

“I felt happy. It was almost as if God was saying ‘don’t worry, you’re in my arms.’”

Yoel Romero is 44 years but to him, that fact doesn’t hinder his ability to compete. He actually wants to fight longer than Bernard Hopkins did.

“I would like to surpass Bernard Hopkins.”

Hopkins is a renowned retired boxer who had his final pro bout at 52 years old. Hopkins has the distinction of becoming the oldest world champion in boxing history. In fact, he broke his own record.

Romero has yet to capture a world title in MMA. He hopes that changes with his Bellator run and his journey starts with Davis in the main event of Bellator 266.

Continue Reading Yoel Romero Channels Inner Bernard Hopkins, Wants To Fight Into His 50s at MMA News.