55 Facts About Yoel Romero

1.

Yoel Romero Palacio was born on April 30,1977 and is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler.

2.

Yoel Romero currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for Bellator MMA.

3.

Yoel Romero started training in wrestling in the 1990s, and eventually representing Cuba at senior level in the FILA Wrestling World Championships, which is held in non-Olympic years, from 1997 to 2005.

4.

At the 1999 World Wrestling Championships Yoel Romero became world champion by defeating the 1996 Olympic gold medalist, Khadzhimurad Magomedov of Russia.

5.

Yoel Romero missed out on becoming world champion again in 2002.

6.

Yoel Romero competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics, representing his home nation of Cuba.

7.

Yoel Romero won the silver medal in the 2000 freestyle competition, losing to Adam Saitiev in the finals.

8.

Yoel Romero medaled in five world championships, only missing out with his fifth-place finish in 1997, and a sixth-place finish in 2003, when he was battling injuries.

9.

Yoel Romero competed infrequently after 2005: he was suspended for all of 2006 by the Cuban Wrestling Federation for allegedly throwing his match against Mindorashvili at the 2005 World Championships.

10.

Yoel Romero then joined the Ringer-Bundesliga, a professional wrestling league in Germany, in which teams compete for team titles.

11.

Yoel Romero competed as a starting member of SV Johannis Nuremberg, as well as helping coach and train the team.

12.

From 2008 to 2011, Yoel Romero was trained by Serge Kuftin and Zike Simic, both of whom were from Peter Althof's "Martial Arts Gym Nurnberg".

13.

Yoel Romero won in the third round via TKO, which was at first ruled a controversial disqualification, due to a knee on the ground thrown by Yoel Romero.

14.

Yoel Romero signed with Strikeforce in July 2011 and made his promotional debut against Rafael Cavalcante on September 10,2011, at Strikeforce 36.

15.

Yoel Romero lost the fight via KO in the second round.

16.

Yoel Romero won the fight via flying knee knockout in the first round.

17.

Yoel Romero was expected to face Derek Brunson on August 31,2013, at UFC 164.

18.

Yoel Romero won the fight via knockout in the third round.

19.

Yoel Romero faced Tim Kennedy on September 27,2014, at UFC 178.

20.

Yoel Romero won the fight via TKO in the third round, giving Kennedy his first stoppage loss in thirteen years.

21.

Yoel Romero was expected to face Ronaldo Souza on February 28,2015, at UFC 184.

22.

However, Yoel Romero was forced out of the fight by a ligament and meniscus tear in his knee.

23.

Yoel Romero faced former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida on June 27,2015, at UFC Fight Night 70.

24.

Yoel Romero knocked out Machida at 1:38 of the third round with a series of elbows from top position.

25.

Yoel Romero faced former middleweight champion Chris Weidman on November 12,2016, at UFC 205.

26.

Yoel Romero won the fight via knockout in the third round and was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus.

27.

Yoel Romero was scheduled to face David Branch on February 24,2018, at UFC on Fox 28.

28.

At the weigh-ins, Yoel Romero came in at 188.3 lbs in his first attempt.

29.

Yoel Romero was given another two hours to make 185 lbs but failed to make weight, ending up 2.7 pounds over the middleweight limit of 185 lbs.

30.

Yoel Romero knocked Rockhold down with a heavy overhand followed up with a punch on the ground that rendered Rockhold unconscious.

31.

At the weight-ins, Yoel Romero missed weight, coming in at 186 pounds, 1 pound over the middleweight limit for a title fight.

32.

Yoel Romero was given additional time to make weight but was pulled by the commission, weighing in at 185.2 lbs, 0.2 pounds over.

33.

Yoel Romero lost the back-and-forth fight by a close split decision.

34.

Yoel Romero was scheduled to face Paulo Costa on November 3,2018, at UFC 230.

35.

Yoel Romero was scheduled to face Ronaldo Souza on April 27,2019, at UFC Fight Night 150.

36.

However, it was reported that Yoel Romero pulled out of the bout in early in April 2019 due to illness and was replaced by Jack Hermansson.

37.

Yoel Romero faced Paulo Costa on August 17,2019, at UFC 241.

38.

Yoel Romero next faced Israel Adesanya on March 7,2020 UFC 248 for the UFC middleweight title.

39.

Yoel Romero was scheduled to face Uriah Hall on August 22,2020, at UFC on ESPN 15.

40.

On December 14,2020, it was announced that Yoel Romero had agreed to a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA and is expected to compete in its light heavyweight division beginning in 2021.

41.

On February 9,2021, it was announced that Yoel Romero would be participating in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament.

42.

Yoel Romero made his Bellator debut on September 18,2021, at Bellator 266 against Phil Davis.

43.

Yoel Romero was scheduled to fight Melvin Manhoef on May 6,2022, at Bellator 280.

44.

Yoel Romero won the bout via TKO in the final seconds of the third round.

45.

Yoel Romero won the bout via knockout on the ground via elbows in the third round.

46.

Yoel Romero was scheduled to face Vadim Nemkov for the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship on February 4,2023, at Bellator 290.

47.

Yoel Romero was scheduled to face Vadim Nemkov for the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship on June 16,2023, at Bellator 297.

48.

Yoel Romero is left-handed and primarily fights out of the southpaw stance, although he sometimes switches to an orthodox stance during fights.

49.

In spite of his amateur wrestling pedigree, Yoel Romero rarely uses his wrestling offensively inside the Octagon.

50.

Yoel Romero was informed of a potential doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition test conducted by USADA on January 13,2016 after his bout with Ronaldo Souza on December 12,2015, at UFC 194, which Yoel Romero won via split decision.

51.

USADA revealed that Yoel Romero had tested positive for ibutamoren, a growth hormone release stimulator.

52.

The result of the Souza fight was not overturned, as it was an out-of-competition test that occurred after the fight; Yoel Romero passed both his pre-fight and fight night tests for the Souza fight.

53.

Yoel Romero pursued legal action against the supplement company, but they never interposed an answer.

54.

Yoel Romero describes himself as a Christian and "a man of God" whose hero is Jesus Christ.

55.

However, during the post fight press conference and subsequent interviews the following day, Yoel Romero denied referring to gay marriage and apologized for his comments while maintaining that they were misunderstood.