Yoel Romero surprisingly picks two defeats as his favorite fights
Former UFC fighter Yoel Romero surprised fans after he recently shared that both of his bouts against Robert Whittaker are the favorite fights of his MMA career so far.
Romero, who is currently signed to MMA promotion Bellator, took part in reporter Alex Behunin's Twitter series 'Humanizing Athletes'. Behunin asks fighters random questions such as their favorite colors and video games as a way to offer fans more insight into the fighters they adore.
Asked what was the favorite fight of his career, the 45-year-old wrote that he ranks both his fights with Whittaker at the top, despite coming up short in each.
Humanizing Athletes: Yoel Romero
Yoel lists some of his favorite things ahead of his fight this Friday at #Bellator285 @BellatorMMA https://t.co/3UO3NrD9uj
'Solider of God' fought 'The Reaper' back in 2017. The first bout was for the interim middleweight title which saw the Australian win via unanimous decision and earned each fighter the Fight of the Night (FOTN) bonus.
The Thrill and the Agony - Whittaker vs Romero #UFC213 https://t.co/tuwS3OKx4o
The pair ran it back a year later at UFC 225 after Romero's stunning KO victory over Luke Rockhold. Whittaker was the then undisputed middleweight champion. However Romero missed weight and was unable to capture the belt.
The two men put on an absolute war which saw Whittaker win yet again, only this time via split-decision. The rematch was not only awarded the FOTN bonus, but also won the Fight of the Year award for 2018.
Yoel Romero responds to former rival and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya
Yoel Romero has responded to recent comments from Israel Adesanya, who stated that his bout with the Cuban fighter was the lowest point of his career so far.
The pair's rivalry was due to be settled in the octagon back at UFC 248 which was also the last fight of Romero's contract. In a mouth-watering bout on paper, fans were left disappointed when 'The Last Stylebender' and 'Soldier of God' failed to produce any fireworks. Eventually, Adesanya fought his way to a unanimous decision victory.
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Romero responded to Adesanya, who criticized the 45-year-old's performance in their lackluster bout on his YouTube channel:
"Let's get things straight. He [Israel Adesanya] called me like, 'Nobody wants to fight the beast [Yoel Romero], I want to face the beast, and not only do I want to face the beast, I want to retire the beast.' He starts to fight [UFC 248] and feels my power... He starts running away from me. I'm not going to start chasing after you. That's not what I'm going to do. The UFC was pampering him and basically what they wanted was for me to go running after him. No! I'm not going to do that."
Catch Yoel Romero's full interview below: