Yoel Romero News
Two title fights announced for Bellator 297, including Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero
Lewis Simpson - March 27, 2023
Bellator MMA has announced a spectacular two-title fight card that will go down on June 16 in Chicago, Illinois, at Bellator 297. After a successful turnout last November at the Wintrust Arena, where Vadim Nemkov defended his title against Cory Anderson at Bellator 288, the promotion is heading back with a mouthwatering card.
Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero scrapped from Bellator 290, current champion added to co-main event slot
Josh Evanoff - December 27, 2022
Bellator 290’s main card has lost a champion but gained another. On February 4th, Fedor Emelianenko will fight for the final time against Ryan Bader. The bout is actually a rematch of their prior encounter at Bellator 214. In their January 2019 fight, ‘Darth’ scored a first-round knockout win over the legend.
Fedor Emelianenko's retirement fight against Ryan Bader to headline Bellator 290 on CBS in February
Josh Evanoff - November 18, 2022
Bellator’s debut on CBS next year has some serious star power. ‘The Last Emperor’ has been out of the cage since his knockout win over Timothy Johnson in October 2021. Following the victory, Emelianenko revealed he would only compete one more time. He subsequently called for a rematch with Ryan Bader.
Bellator champion Johnny Eblen discusses a potential fight with Yoel Romero: “I don’t know if that dude’s all natural”
Harry Kettle - September 27, 2022
Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen has given his thoughts on a potential fight against Yoel Romero in the future. This past weekend at Bellator 285 in Dublin, Yoel Romero was able to knock Melvin Manhoef out with a nasty series of elbows to take his current win streak with the promotion up to two. The 45-year-old, known as the ‘Soldier of God’, is still one of the most feared men in the sport – which says a lot about the impact he’s been able to have in the second half of his illustrious career.
Bellator 285 Results: Yoel Romero TKO's Melvin Manhoef (Video)
Chris Taylor - September 23, 2022
Tonight’s Bellator 285 event is co-headlined by a highly anticipated light heavyweight bout between Yoel Romero and Melvin Manhoef. Romero (14-6 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since scoring a TKO victory over Alex Polizzi this past May at Bellator Paris. That victory snapped a four-fight losing skid for ‘The Soldier of God’, as Romero had previously suffered a string of decision defeats to Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, Israel Adesanya and Phil Davis.
Yoel Romero claps back at "pampered" Israel Adesanya for his recent comments: “How many fights does Izzy have that are boring? You see?”
Cole Shelton - September 21, 2022
Yoel Romero has fired back at Israel Adesanya. Adesanya recently looked back on a low point in his career, which was the Romero fight, and put much of the blame on the now Bellator fighter. That fight served as the main event of UFC 248 and resulted in what many fans and analysts refer to as a snooze fest.
Yoel Romero reveals plans to defeat Melvin Manhoef, then search for Bellator champ-champ status: "My goals are still the same"
Josh Evanoff - September 15, 2022
Bellator light-heavyweight contender Yoel Romero has some big plans for 2023. ‘Soldier of God’ has been out of action since his knockout win over Alex Polizzi in May. The victory was an important one for the Cuban, as it was his first win in the Bellator cage. Romero had previously lost by decision to Phil Davis in his September 2021 debut.
Israel Adesanya reflects on Yoel Romero fight as the lowest point of his career: "That was the worst for me"
Josh Evanoff - August 26, 2022
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya views his fight with Yoel Romero as the lowest moment of his career. ‘The Last Stylebender’ met ‘Soldier of God’ in the main event of UFC 248 in March 2020. The headliner was set to be the first title defense for the recently-crowned champion Adesanya. Despite high expectations heading in, the matchup wasn’t a thriller as fans hoped.
Alex Polizzi reveals Yoel Romero broke his jaw at Bellator 280 (Photo)
Susan Cox - May 26, 2022
Alex Polizzi has revealed that Yoel Romero broke his jaw at Bellator 280. It was Polizzi (10-1 MMA) vs Romero (12-6 MMA) in the co-main light heavyweight bout on May 6, 2022 at Bellator 280. In front of a sold out crowd, referee, Mike Beltran, waived off the fight at 4:59 of Round 3, giving Yoel Romero the TKO victory.
Bellator 280 Results: Yoel Romero TKO's Alex Polizzi (Video)
Chris Taylor - May 6, 2022
Today’s Bellator 280 event is co-headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Yoel Romero and Alex Polizzi. Romero (13-6 MMA) will be looking to snap a four-fight losing skid when he takes to the cage this evening in Paris. ‘The Soldier of God’ made his Bellator debut last September, dropping a split decision to Phil Davis. The setback was preceded by three straight decision losses under the UFC banner.
Yoel Romero has one stipulation for a potential fight with Bellator champion Gegard Mousasi
Harry Kettle - May 5, 2022
Yoel Romero is interested in taking on Gegard Mousasi in Bellator – but only if the middleweight championship is on the line. While he may be on a four-fight losing streak, Yoel Romero still seems to be one of the most popular figures in mixed martial arts. This weekend, he’ll return to the Bellator cage in Paris for his second appearance with the promotion as he takes on Alex Polizzi.
Yoel Romero receives new opponent for Bellator 280 after Melvin Manhoef suffers injury while apprehending three burglars
Harry Kettle - May 2, 2022
Yoel Romero has received a new opponent for Bellator 280 following the recent withdrawal of Melvin Manhoef. While he may now be entering his mid-40s, Yoel Romero is still one of the most feared fighters out there – largely due to the reputation he’s been building throughout the course of his time in mixed martial arts.
Bellator 266 Fighter Salaries: Yoel Romero banks largest payday
Adam D Martin - September 23, 2021
The Bellator 266 fighter salaries have been officially released to the public, and light heavyweight Yoel Romero banked the largest payday. MMAjunkie.com was the first to report the salaries for Bellator 266 after obtaining the information from the California State Athletic Commission. The highest-paid fighter on the card was Romero, who took home $150,000 flat for his split decision loss to Phil Davis in the main event of Bellator 266. Despite the fact that Davis was the one who won the fight, he received only $100,000 for the victory. That’s because Bellator has a flat pay system for many of its top fighters and not the traditional show and win bonuses for them. So in the case of Romero and Davis, they would have been guaranteed those purses win or lose.
Yoel Romero could drop down to middleweight and face the winner of Mousasi-Vanderford for the belt, says Scott Coker
Cole Shelton - September 19, 2021
Yoel Romero might be getting another title shot off a loss. Romero made his Bellator debut on Saturday night in the main event of Bellator 266 where he suffered a split decision loss to Phil Davis. Although one judge had it for Romero, most thought it was a dominant win for Davis to spoil Romero’s promotional debut.
Pros react after Phil Davis defeats Yoel Romero at Bellator 266
Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021
Tonight’s Bellator 266 event was headlined by a light heavyweight bout featuring Yoel Romero taking on Phil Davis. Romero (13-6 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Israel Adesanya for the UFC’s middleweight championship in March of 2020. That setback had marked Yoel’s third in a row, as ‘The Soldier of God’ had previously been outpointed by Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker.
Bellator 266 Results: Phil Davis defeats Yoel Romero (Highlights)
Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021
Tonight’s Bellator 266 event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout featuring Yoel Romero taking on Phil Davis. Romero (13-5 MMA) has not competed since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Israel Adesanya for the UFC’s middleweight championship in March of 2020. That setback marked his third in a row, as ‘The Soldier of God’ had previously been outpointed by Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker.
Yoel Romero hopes to follow in the footsteps of Bernard Hopkins and fight into his 50s
Adam D Martin - September 16, 2021
Bellator light heavyweight contender Yoel Romero says that he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Bernard Hopkins and fight into his 50s. Hopkins last competed in 2016 when he was 51 years old, and Romero hopes to follow in his footsteps. Now 44 years old, Romero will be making his debut for Bellator this Saturday night when he takes on fellow former UFC fighter Phil Davis. Romero has not fought in over a year since a loss to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and given that he is already 44 and has battled health problems that delayed his Bellator debut, one would think that he maybe doesn’t have much time left in this sport. However, as far as Romero goes, he still has several good years left in him. In fact, he believes he can fight in his 50s.
Yoel Romero shares terrifying new photo ahead of Bellator debut
Adam D Martin - September 15, 2021
Former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero shared a terrifying new photo ahead of his Bellator debut this weekend. Romero makes his long-awaited Bellator debut this Saturday night when he faces off against former Bellator light heavyweight champion Phil Davis. Romero was originally set to fight Anthony Johnson during the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, but he was forced out of the tournament due to an eye injury. Now that Romero is healthy, he will be making his Bellator debut as expected this weekend when he faces off against the tough Davis.