His Achilles heel has always been fight IQ and strategy, not athleticism.
Ageless wonder, Yoel Romero, is still going strong at 46 years into his journey.
Having competed professionally in combat sports for more than 15 years now, “Soldier of God” has had a rough stretch over his last seven fights, racking up a sub-par record (2-5) that dates back to his final fights with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
In fact, Romero left the Las Vegas, Nevada-based fight promotion with three straight losses.
During that span, however, he did earn back-to-back knockout wins over Alex Polizzi and Melvin Manhoef inside the Bellator cage before coming up short in his bid to pry the Light Heavyweight title away from Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 297 back in Jan. 2023.
According to the (still) hulking Cuban, however, his age has nothing to do with that loss, proclaiming that his body is still reacting well and is only improving over time.
“My performances in the cage have been good,” Romero claimed during a special “Seize the Throne” press conference (replay here). “I know they are not the results I am looking for, but I feel good when I compete and so does my body.”
If anything, Romero stated that he is collecting more experience that he can use against his opponents every time he steps foot inside the cage.
“While I get older, I am gathering more experience that I can use,” he concluded.
Romero will step foot inside the SmartCage for the first time to face former UFC stablemate, Thiago Santos, in a Light Heavyweight fight on the inaugural Professional Fighter’s League (PFL) “Champion vs. Champion” pay-per-view (PPV) event on Feb. 24, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Interestingly enough, that will be mark fight No. 23 as a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, which is a rather low figure given the fact that he’s been competing for more than 15 years. Perhaps that’s the reason the former Olympian has been able to fight so long, by not putting his body through the rigors of fighting multiple times per year.
Whatever the case, Romero is not planning to retire anytime soon. And “Soldier of God” now has added motivation to score a win in Riyadh after Nemkov vacated the 205-pound title to seek Heavyweight glory.
And apparently even at 46 years old, his fight IQ hasn’t improved much. Maybe by 55?
he’s done pretty well for starting at 36
He got shafted on most of his decisions
His record doesn’t tell the tale of most of those decision fights