Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. Multiple-time
Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Yoel Romero
has been unexpectedly released by the promotion. On Friday night,
ESPN reported that Romero (13-5) is no longer part of the UFC
roster. According to ESPN, Romero had three fights left on his
contract, but the 43-year-old is moving on. Romero is already
speaking with other promoters to negotiate potential contracts, per
his management team.
“While we didn’t expect Romero’s time in the UFC to end like this,”
Romero’s manager Malki Kawa said to ESPN, “we are grateful for the
opportunities Dana White, Hunter Campbell and Mick Maynard gave him
over the years. He’s ready to move on now and resume his career,
and we are already talking to other promotions as we speak.”
Romero leaves the promotion on a three-fight skid, with a trio of
decision defeats to Robert
Whittaker, Paulo Costa
and Israel
Adesanya in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. “Soldier of God”
officially vied for the UFC throne on two separate occasions,
coming up short each time to either Whittaker or Adesanya. Although
he engaged in two other potential championship affairs against
Luke
Rockhold for the interim strap and Whittaker in a rematch, he
missed weight both times to remove him from contention.
His last appearance came in March against Adesanya, where the two
engaged in an extremely lackluster five-round affair where fewer
than 100
significant strikes landed over 25 minutes. Although he
competed in the Octagon just 13 times across his UFC career that
began in 2013, the Cuban-born Romero earned seven post-fight
bonuses with an eighth that was rescinded when he missed weight. He
moves on from the UFC with the third-most
knockouts in divisional history with seven, trailing Anderson
Silva and Thiago
Santos with eight apiece. Romero stands alone with the most
third-round finishes in UFC history (six).
