It appears that Yoel Romero
will be a Bellator MMA athlete very soon.
The former UFC middleweight title challenger is expected to sign
with the California-based promotion and make his debut at 205
pounds in 2021. Though Romero has not officially signed a contract,
both sides have agreed to terms. ESPN
was first to report the news.
Early reports indicated that Bellator was not interested in signing
Romero, who will turn 44 years old in April. However, Bellator and
“The Soldier of God” were ultimately able to reach an agreement for
a multi-fight deal as Romero’s period of free agency lasted less
than two weeks. Romero’s imminent signing comes on the heels of the
addition of Anthony
Johnson, setting up a potentially tantalizing matchup at light
heavyweight in Bellator.
Romero, who suffered a KO loss to Rafael
Cavalcante in a 205-pound bout under the Strikeforce banner
before moving to middleweight upon signing with the UFC, is 13-5
over the course of a professional career that began in 2009. The
Olympic silver medalist established himself as one of the top
contenders at 185 pounds during an eight-fight winning streak from
2013 to 2016 that included finishes of the likes of Derek
Brunson, Tim Kennedy,
Lyoto
Machida, Ronaldo
Souza and Chris
Weidman.
From there, Romero engaged in a pair of epic five-round battles
with Robert
Whittaker, falling via unanimous decision at UFC 213 and via
split decision in the rematch at UFC 225. Many observers believed
the Cuban deserved to get the nod the second time around, though he
was ineligible to capture 185-pound gold after missing weight.
Romero concluded his UFC tenure on a three-bout skid that included
the second loss to Whittaker, a closely-contested decision defeat
to Paulo Costa
at UFC 241 and a baffling performance in a five-round defeat to
current champ Israel
Adesanya at UFC 248.