Yoel Romero SHOCKS UFC World – Breaking MMA News

By Barnaby “Mattress Man” Kellaway

This past weekend in Miami, Yoel Romero threw his name, amongst so many others, in to the discussion about championship contenders by crushing bonafide legend, Lyoto Machida.

Since enduring a five round war with Chris Weidman, a fight in which the champion was pushed to his absolute limits, Lyoto Machida has been crushed twice, firstly by Luke Rockhold in April and then again this past weekend against Yoel Romero. The fact that a fighter of the calibre of Machida can be so handily beaten by his fellow contenders is an indictment of just how talent rich the UFC’s middleweight division is.

At the top of the pile sits the champion, Chris Weidman. The number two ranked pound for pound fighter in the world has been nicknamed ‘the Brazilian killer’, after securing four wins over three of Brazil’s best ever fighters in the past two years. Two of these victories came against the best fighter to ever enter the octagon, Anderson Silva. After defying all the odds and becoming champion, then defending his championship for the first time, he scored a unanimous decision victory against former light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. And most recently he defeated another former light-heavyweight champion, Vitor Belfort, in the first round. The all-American is an absolute stud and with a couple more victories will find himself perched right at the top of the pound for pound rankings.

His next opponent is the number one contender, Luke Rockhold. Since falling victim to a brutal head-kick KO from Vitor Belfort the Californian has been unstoppable, finishing his last four. He looked good in the aftermath of that devastating loss but it was his most recent fight which made the whole community turn and pay attention. He spent a round and a half controlling every aspect of the fight, eventually rag-dolling his opponent to the floor, wrapping him up like an anaconda and slipping in the rear-naked choke. It was an incredible display from an athlete at the pinnacle of their game. Thus far, it was the best octagon performance of 2015 and it rightfully earned him a title shot.

Below him at number two is Ronaldo Souza. This man is unbeaten in the UFC and is unfortunate to have not yet been properly challenged. He has dutifully beaten all-comers and was due to be rewarded with a top tier opponent in April but Yoel Romero was forced out with injury. Had he won that fight he may well have been next for Chris Weidman but unfortunate circumstances cost him the opportunity. ‘The Alligator’ has won numerous world titles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is widely regarded as one of best submission artists in the UFC. It is likely that next time he fights it will be in a title eliminator bout, then we will see just how far Souza can go.

Ranked from three to five in the division are all three of Weidman’s victims since becoming champ: Belfort, Machida and Silva. Between them they have eighty professional wins, three UFC championships and eight black belts. All three are sure-fire future hall of famers. It is astounding that there a three fighters with such legendary status in the sport this high up in the same division.

Then ranked at number six is the man of the hour, ‘the Soldier of God’, Yoel Romero. On Saturday he extended his unbeaten run in the UFC to six. In a similar way to Luke Rockhold, Romero had his breakout fight in a demolition of Lyoto Machida. Until then he was seen as a potential contender but after this incredible performance he has become a genuine contender.

What was perhaps most impressive about the victory was the fact that he refrained from using his wrestling base (Romero is an Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling) for the first eleven minutes of the fight. Then as soon as the opportunity presented itself he pounced, scoring the takedown with a wonderfully timed trip and landing elbows until Machida was out cold. Until that point Romero looked very comfortable on the feet, exhibiting his powerful counter left and some wild kicking techniques.

Yoel Romero is a world class wrestler and now it seems that he has managed to get his striking to a similarly advanced level: a scary prospect indeed.

The list of contenders in the division does not stop there, with fighters like Gegard Mousasi, Thales Leites and Michael Bisping also populating the top fifteen.

This incredible depth is such that the most competitive division in the UFC will present exciting title-fights for many years to come.