Yoel Romero's manager hints that he may box next after UFC release
The sudden release of UFC middleweight Yoel Romero was unexpected, to say the least. Romero was not in the best of form across his last few fights, but few were expecting "The Soldier of God" to part ways with the promotion.
The Cuban has shown no indication of retiring though, and will be weighing his options for the future. His manager Malki Kawa already has an interesting proposition in mind.
A Twitter user tagged the manager and stated that organizations such as Bellator, ONE, Rizin, PFL, and others could look to approach Yoel Romero. Kawa replied stating “how about the boxing ring,” leading to discussions about a potential whole new path for the former middleweight title challenger.
If Romero does decide to put on the boxing gloves, he will have the opportunity to compete in three combat disciplines, namely MMA, wrestling, and boxing.
It is worth noting that Yoel Romero is a former silver medalist at the Summer Olympics, having won the medal for Cuba in the 2000 games. However, he hardly ever utilized grappling in his MMA bouts and rather depended on his sudden bursts of brutal strikes to end his fights.
Many knockout artists pride themselves on finishing bouts early, but Yoel Romero usually reserved his highlight reels for the later rounds.
11 of his 13 professional MMA wins came by the way of knockouts. More interestingly, none of his KOs in the UFC, barring one, came in the first two rounds of fights.
Yoel Romero’s MMA career at a glance
Yoel Romero defected to Germany in 2007 to look for better opportunities for himself and his family. Soon after, he made his professional MMA debut and won his first four fights in local German promotions, all via stoppages.
He would then have a solitary fight in Strikeforce in 2011, before being offered a contract by the UFC in 2013. Yoel Romero would amass an eight-fight win streak in the UFC and finished six of his eight opponents.
His scalps included names such as Jacare Souza, Lyoto Machida, and Chris Weidman, among others. However, when he was finally given a shot at the middleweight title, he missed weight and was ineligible to win the title against Robert Whittaker.
He would go on to lose his fight, but received another shot after beating Luke Rockhold. Romero missed weight again and lost for a second time to Whittaker in June 2018.
Concurrent losses to Paulo Costa and Israel Adesanya, whom he fought for the title in his third chance at the belt, meant he was asked to find a new home by the UFC.