One of the more prominent fighters in the UFC‘s middleweight division is no longer with the promotion. In a stunning report by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Yoel Romero is no longer a member of the UFC. His manager confirmed the news with Helwani.
This is a very stunning development that really came out of no where. Romero was scheduled for a UFC fight back in August against Uriah Hall. Romero had to pull out of the fight and the UFC pivoted to book Hall against Anderson Silva.
Since then, things have been very quiet on the Yoel Romero front. There had been no talk about the UFC getting him his next opponent. Many just assumed that Romero was taking his time. However, we now know that there might be more to the story.
There is still no word on why Romero and the UFC have parted ways. Helwani also reported that Romero had three fights left on his contract. As I’m writing this story, I’m still a little stunned by the news that Romero is no longer with the promotion.
Romero’s UFC legacy
With the news that Yoel Romero is no longer with the UFC, it’s time to reflect on his run inside the octagon. The promotion’s acquisition of Strikeforce brought Romero to the big stage. The Olympic Silver medalist was an instance force in the middleweight division.
He made his UFC debut back in April of 2013 where he won by a flying knee. Romero would go on to win his first eight fights before getting a shot against Robert Whittaker for the interim middleweight title.
Whittaker edged out Romero that night. Romero then bounced back to knock out Luke Rockhold with a devastating left hand. After that, Romero fought Whittaker again for the UFC middleweight title.
To this day, I believe that Romero won that fight. However, the judges gave a split decision to Whittaker. Following that matchup, Romero lost a very entertaining fight against Paulo Costa before fighting Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title.
The fight failed to live up to expectations and Romero lost to Adesanya. In the end, Romero will finish his UFC career 1-4 in his last five contest. However, it was a fun ride while it lasted.