Yoel Romero says UFC release was 'completely unexpected,' details disagreement with matchmakers

[KazDibiase]

According to Romero, who called his release “unexpected,” he was actively negotiating with matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard but the two sides were miles apart in terms of where “Soldier of God” fit in the current 185-pound title picture.

Romero told ESPN (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “We were already thinking of fighting in January or February at 185 or 205. We were looking to fight with the top three in either division. They wanted (me) to fight with Uriah Hall, Derek Brunson, and we explained to them that it didn’t make sense for (me) to fight with these young men. We had an idea we were chasing, the world title. Our thought was that fighting any of these guys that are in the back of the roster, that it was taking steps backward, not forward.”

“They came back to us with an offer to fight Johnny Walker at 205,” Romero continued. “At 205, we wanted whomever triumphed between ‘Marreta’ (Santos) or Glover (Teixeira). I was training not extra hard, but training with an intensity that I was going to run through my next two fights, get another shot at Izzy (Adesanya), and once I was in there, I was going to take his head off.”

 

[Morris88]

These young men? LOL

Uriah Hall - 36
Derek Brunson - 36

I mean I know it's all relative since Yoel has been fighting since 1897, but even so...

 

[mirko>anyone]

Why would he get the winner of Texiera/Santos? He wasn't even the #1 contender at MW anymore, let alone LHW. Glover should be getting a title shot after Adesanya.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Whether you think he won some of his split decisions or not, he officially lost them, and really should not be facing top 3 competition.

 

[BRASIL WAND]

He’s right, how does the UFC justify keeping CTE patients like Jac and JDS around...

 

[SaigeVanZant]

Sounds like he was acting like a woman

 

[Simple Southerner]

To much of this not enough fighting

 

[Darbo]

Suppose he got a bit too used to the title shots, when you stand still for 25 minutes and provide the fans with one of the most boring, inactive fights of the decade your employer is going to take notice and stop being so nice.

 

[mirko>anyone]

He’s right, how does the UFC justify keeping CTE patients like Jac and JDS around...

I'm guessing they will be released shortly as well.

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

I like Yoel, generally speaking, but he wasn't really in a position to be too demanding. I think we will see JDS and Jacare get the boot as well.

 

[Rorschachxx]

As close as those last fights of Yoel were, he is 0-3 in his last three fights. He actually is lucky they offered him Hall and Brunson cause after that last performance, you'd wonder if Yoel wanted to fight at all. I dont see him being in any position to negotiate, ESPECIALLY with title implications in mind. As a big fan of Yoel I still cant believe how he threw away a gifted and frankly, undeserved title shot like that. Also Brunson is ranked 7 right now.

Dominick Cruz lost two title fights and holds every record in the BW division including being a two-time world champion and the dude is fighting an unranked fighter next. So yeah, I have no idea what the fuck Yoel is on about but he seems delusional af.

 

[Slatersan]

Gets title shot.
Stands in the middle of the ring doing nothing and loses.
Demands another title shot.

 

[Londonjitsu]

So you got what you deserved? good.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Brunson and Hall sound like exactly who he should be fighting. I dont think they should have cut him unless he absolutely refused those fights

 

[neandertal]

Yeah he's clearly delusional.

 

[Ace70 V2]

They should have gave him a ranked guy at 205. Like an Anthony Smith something. A fight that gets his feet wet and shows where he is.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Brunson is on a 3 fight run coming off a main event win over Shahbazyan. His previous fight with Romero was very competitive. That would have been a perfect fight for him.

 

[Morris88]

As close as those last fights of Yoel were, he is 0-3 in his last three fights. He actually is lucky they offered him Hall and Brunson cause after that last performance, you'd wonder if Yoel wanted to fight at all. I dont see him being in any position to negotiate, ESPECIALLY with title implications in mind. As a big fan of Yoel I still cant believe how he threw away a gifted and frankly, undeserved title shot like that. Also Brunson is ranked 7 right now.

Dominick Cruz lost two title fights and holds every record in the BW division including being a two-time world champion and the dude is fighting an unranked fighter next. So yeah, I have no idea what the fuck Yoel is on about but he seems delusional af.

Yeah and I don't know why he was saying it didn't make sense for him to fight Uriah Hall when that fight was actually booked and just fell through...

 

[Garnet_StrongerThanYou]

Why is he demanding top 3 guys at LHW?

He should have fought Brunson.

his top wins were years aho

 

[Kingz]

Brunson and Hall sound like exactly who he should be fighting. I dont think they should have cut him unless he absolutely refused those fights

after fighting for the title these two guys just barely in the UFC top 10(the higher ranked of the two being a fighter he already beat) are the right fights for him? A close loss doesn’t knock you down to the middle of the pack. Surely there are better fights in his range that aren’t rematches...and even at 205 where it’s a clean slate. Why not Darren Till, another Whittaker match , Cannonier?