Yoel Romero News

Josh Evanoff - February 10, 2022

Yoel Romero has a name and a date for his return to the Bellator cage. The ‘Soldier of God’ signed to the promotion in December 2020 to much fanfare. Romero was a staple of the UFC’s middleweight promotion for nearly a decade. Along the way, he fought in four titles bouts, most recently against Israel Adesanya at UFC 248.

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.

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.

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.

Cole Shelton - September 16, 2021

Yoel Romero was close to boxing Jake Paul but the YouTuber’s team didn’t want it. When Romero was released from the UFC, he was looking at options and one fight that was offered was to box Paul. At the time, Paul just knocked out Nate Robinson and was looking to fight a real fighter, yet when Romero showed interest in the bout, Paul and his team decided to cancel the fight and went with Ben Askren instead.

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.

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.

Cole Shelton - September 13, 2021

Phil Davis is eager to get the chance to welcome Yoel Romero to Bellator. In the main event of Bellator 266 on September 18 in San Jose the two will share the cage. Davis is coming off the grand prix loss  Romero will be moving up to light heavyweight for is debut. It’s an intriguign mathup and for Davis, when he got the call he would be fighting Romero, he says it was an immediate yes.

Cole Shelton - August 12, 2021

Yoel Romero can resume his fighting career. Romero was supposed to fight Anthony Johnson in the light heavyweight grand prix but he was removed after failing his physical. The hope for Bellator was he would get cleared in a few months and that ended up being the case.

Adam D Martin - August 12, 2021

Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi says he is open to fighting former UFC standout Yoel Romero in the Bellator cage. Mousasi returns to the Bellator cage on Friday night when he takes on John Salter for the Bellator middleweight title. While “The Dream Catcher” knows he can’t look too far ahead, when the media asked him who he wants to fight next, he had to give them a name. That name would be Romero, the former UFC middleweight title challenger who recently signed with Bellator. “The Soldier of God” was supposed to take part in the promotion’s 205lbs tournament, but he was forced out of the tournament due to a medical issue. Once he’s healthy, Mousasi says that he is open to fighting the man that no one else wants to fight.

Adam D Martin - June 6, 2021

Former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero says that he wants to “kill somebody” in his Bellator debut later this summer. Romero was released by the UFC earlier this year in a surprise decision, but he quickly landed with Bellator MMA and was poised to fight Anthony Johnson in the first round of the Bellator World Light Heavyweight Grand Prix. However, Romero was forced out of the tournament due to a medical issue, which has pushed back his Bellator debut. According to Romero, he is now feeling better and is expected to make his Bellator debut soon.

Adam D Martin - April 30, 2021

Anthony Johnson issued a statement after Yoel Romero was pulled from the upcoming Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament. Johnson vs. Romero was one of four scheduled quarterfinal bouts in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix and it was set to go down next Friday, May 7 for five rounds or less. Unfortunately for both men, the fight will not go on as planned after Romero failed a pre-fight medical scan and was removed from the tournament entirely. That means Johnson currently is without an opponent, though Bellator is expected to name a replacement soon, with Julius Anglickas the favorite to take Romero’s spot in the tourney.

Drake Riggs - April 28, 2021

Anthony Johnson has fought a who’s who of tough opponents throughout his career. But he expects his next to be the most dangerous. Set to make his Bellator MMA debut on May 7 as part of the light heavyweight Grand Prix at Bellator 258, “Rumble” squares off with a fellow former multi-time UFC title challenger. It’s “Rumble” vs. the “Soldier of God,” Yoel Romero.

Chris Taylor - April 2, 2021

Former UFC title challenger Anthony Johnson has shared his thoughts on a potential heavyweight bout between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. Ever since Ngannou (16-3 MMA) dethroned Stipe Miocic to become “The Baddest Man on the Planet” at UFC 260, all the talk has been of a potential super-fight with Jones.

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

The Bellator debuts of Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero have been delayed until May as the promotion shuffled up its upcoming schedule. Bellator’s Light Heavyweight Grand Prix begins in April with eight of the world’s best 205lbers going at it for the chance to win $1 million and the belt. On April 9 at Bellator 256, the tournament begins when Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida have a rematch. The two previously met in the UFC back in 2012 with Machida winning the fight by knockout. Nine years later and they meet again under the Bellator banner. The co-main event for that card was supposed to feature Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradv, but that fight has now been pushed back to Bellator 257 on April 16. That means that the fight between Johnson and Romero, which was originally targeted for that date, has been rescheduled.

Adam Martin - February 15, 2021

Yoel Romero looks to be in phenomenal shape ahead of his upcoming Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix fight against Anthony Johnson. Romero was a surprise cut by the UFC late last year and he soon afterward he signed a free-agent deal with Bellator. The organization last week announced that it will be holding an eight-man 205lbs tournament in 2021 and Romero will be a part of it. Though he competed as a middleweight in the UFC, Romero will be moving back up to light heavyweight in Bellator, a weight class that he used to fight at in Strikeforce. The hope is that the 43-year-old Cuban will have a fuller tank of gas now that he doesn’t have to cut a ton of weight at 205lbs.

Cole Shelton - February 9, 2021

Yoel Romero is excited to face Anthony Johnson in his Bellator debut. It was revealed at Bellator’s press conference that both Romero and Johnson would be apart of the grand prix and face one another on April 16. It is a fight the fans wanted to see and Romero is eager for the fight to happen.

Tom Taylor - February 9, 2021

Bellator MMA is reportedly plotting an eight-man light heavyweight tournament featuring former UFC stars Yoel Romero, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Corey Anderson, and more. Bellator’s light heavyweight division has been quite strong for awhile now, as the home of fighters like Phil Davis, Ryan Bader, and reigning champion Vadim Nemkov. After the promotion signed former UFC contenders like Romero, Rumble and Anderson, however, its light heavyweight division is better than ever—debatably even better than the UFC’s.