Yoel Romero Palacio is a Cuban mixed martial artist and former World Champion
and Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling. He competes in the
middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and formerly
competed in the now-defunct Strikeforce organization. Romero is #3 in the
official UFC middleweight rankings. Wrestling career
Romero competed in both the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics,
representing his home nation of Cuba. He won the silver medal in the 2000
freestyle competition, losing to Adam Saitiev in the finals. He finished in
4th place in 2004. While competing in freestyle wrestling, Romero has defeated
3 different Olympic gold medal winners, and 5 different world champions. Among
them were Americans Cael Sanderson and Les Gutches, both of whom Romero has
multiple victories over. He also represented Cuba at the senior
level in the FILA Wrestling World Championships, which is held in
non-Olympic years, from 1997-2005. At the 1999 World Wrestling Championships
Romero became world champ by defeating the 1996 Olympic gold medalist,
Khadzhimurad Magomedov of Russia. He controversially missed out on becoming
world champ again in 2002. After landing a 3 point throw against Adam Saitiev to
take a 3-2 lead, Romero was penalized a point for passivity with 20 seconds
remaining. In overtime after a scramble saw Romero end on top, it was judged
Saitiev had scored in the interim. Romero medaled in 5 total world
championships, only missing out with his 5th place finish in 1997, and 6th place
finish in 2003 - a time where he was battling injuries. Other notable
achievements include a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games, a quadrennial
competition held the year before the Olympics, as well as multiple 1st place
finishes at the FILA Wrestling World Cup. Romero competed sparingly after
2005 - he was suspended for all of 2006 by the Cuban Wrestling Federation for
allegedly throwing his match against Mindorashvili at the 2005 World
Championships. After winning the Grand Prix of Germany in the summer of 2007,
he would not return to Cuba, instead staying in Germany and pursuing a career
in MMA. World Championships/Olympic Games
Matches Mixed martial arts career
= Early career= After defecting in 2007 to Germany,
Romero made his professional mixed martial arts debut in December 2009.
In the time of 2008-2011 Romero had been trained by Sergej Kuftin and Zike Simic,
both - from Peter Althof's "Martial Arts Gym Nuremberg". Over the next two years,
he amassed an undefeated record of 4-0 in various promotions throughout Germany
and Poland. He won his debut via TKO against Sascha
Weinpolter. He then took on Polish standout Michał Fijałka in his second
bout. After a dominating performance, Yoel won in the third round via TKO,
which was at first ruled a controversial disqualification, due to a knee on the
ground thrown by Romero. In 2011, he won his next two fights via TKO in the first
round. = Strikeforce=
Romero signed with Strikeforce in July 2011 and made his promotional debut
against Rafael Cavalcante on September 10, 2011 at Strikeforce 36. He lost the
fight via KO in the second round. A neck injury kept him out of action until
2013. = Ultimate Fighting Championship=
Romero made his UFC and middleweight debut against Clifford Starks on April
20, 2013 at UFC on Fox 7. He won the fight via KO in the first round. The win
also earned him Knockout of the Night honors.
Romero was expected to face Derek Brunson on August 31, 2013 at UFC 164.
However, Brunson suffered an injury and pulled out of the bout. Promotional
newcomer Brian Houston was briefly linked as a replacement, however Houston
was not medically cleared to compete at the event and the bout was cancelled.
In his second UFC bout, Romero faced Ronny Markes on November 6, 2013 at UFC
Fight Night 31. He won the fight via knockout in the third round.
For his third fight, Romero was again set to face Derek Brunson on January 15,
2014 at UFC Fight Night 35. After trailing for two rounds, Romero won the
fight in the third via TKO due to punches that dropped Brunson and
subsequent elbows to the body. Both fighters earned a $50,000 Fight of the
Night bonus award. In his fourth fight, Romero faced Brad
Tavares at UFC on Fox 11. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Romero faced Tim Kennedy on September 27, 2014 at UFC 178. He won the fight
via TKO in the third round, giving Kennedy his first stoppage loss in
thirteen years. Romero was saved by the bell when he got visibly stunned and
nearly finished in the final seconds of the second round. There was controversy
when Romero initially failed to answer the bell for the third round and
received extra time to recover. The win also earned Romero his second Fight of
the Night bonus award. Romero was expected to face Ronaldo
Souza on February 28, 2015 at UFC 184. However, Souza pulled out of the fight
on January 15, 2015 due to pneumonia. The bout will be left intact and moved
to a later date. The bout with Souza was originally
rescheduled for April 18, 2015 at UFC on Fox 15. However, Romero was forced out
of the fight by a ligament and meniscus tear in his knee. He was replaced by
Chris Camozzi. Romero faced Lyoto Machida on June 27,
2015 at UFC Fight Night 70. He knocked out Machida at 1:38 of the third round
with a series of elbows from top position. Romero was awarded a
"Performance of the Night" bonus. A bout with Ronaldo Souza has been
scheduled for a third time, this time on December 12, 2015 at UFC 194.
Mixed martial arts record Personal life
Romero describes himself as "a man of God" whose hero is Jesus Christ. His
younger brother, Yoan Pablo Hernández, is a Cruiserweight Champion in
professional boxing. In a controversial post-fight interview
after his victory over Lyoto Machida at UFC Fight Night 70, Romero seemed to
express disagreement with the Obergefell v. Hodges supreme court ruling. However,
during the post fight press conference and subsequent interviews the following
day, Romero denied referring to gay marriage and apologized for his comments
while maintaining that they were misunderstood and taken out of context.
Championships and accomplishments = Mixed martial arts=
Ultimate Fighting Championship Knockout of the Night
Performance of the Night Fight of the Night
= Freestyle Wrestling= 1999 World Champion
2000 Olympic Games Silver Medalist 2x Cuban Olympic Team Member
6x World-Level Medalist 3X World Cup Champion
2003 Pan Am Games Champion 5x Pan Am Championship Champion
See also List of current UFC fighters
List of male mixed martial artists References
External links Professional MMA record for Yoel Romero
from Sherdog Datos y curiosidades sobre Yoel Romero
en espanol.