Yoel Romero is out of his fight against Anthony Johnson on May 7.
Romero and Johnson were set to make their Bellator debuts in the quarterfinals of the featherweight grand prix. It was a highly-anticipated fight but on Thursday evening, the promotion revealed to CBS Sports that Romero is out of the scrap and the tournament after he failed his pre-fight medical. The nature of Romero’s issue of why he failed the medical was not disclosed.
“Romero will become eligible to reapply for clearance to compete in three months, and we look forward to seeing him make his Bellator debut in the near future,” Bellator said in a statement to CBS Sports. “Bellator MMA will look to reschedule the highly anticipated Johnson versus Romero matchup at a future date.”
Terrible news… I can live with Covid and with no Olympic Games, but this is too much.
Was Romero so juiced up his poor organs can’t keep up?
you might want to ask yoel
Sucks extra that we don’t get a reason. 1st Diego is out with no reason given now Yoel. Bullshit
It’s usually blood pressure.
Isnt he one of the most tested athletes ever?
Interesting that they’re rescheduling instead of going with the alternate (I forget the guys name) vs Rumble. They clearly know the value in the eyes that fight will bring, and they must be confident that Yoel will pass the next medical. I wonder what the issue was
There’s a thread showing video of Josh Fabia mouthing off to UFC officials and they’re saying it’s because of that conduct that Diego is released
Do they check for crab lice?
Oh god they are much better off going with rescheduling this fight. Putting Rumble again do that alternate in the first round would really hurt the tournament …
I don’t think Romero is juicing btw
This sucks an immeasurable amount of dicks.
Let Mousasi or Manhoef get the replacement shot.
There’s already an alternate, but it doesn’t appear to be the route they’re going. Mousasi in this tournament would’ve been great though, him vs Anderson in the first bracket instead of the guy making his debut would’ve been great
The video does not show the conduct that got him released. Fabia being his usual tard self to the broadcast team was bad but this is why they released him…
·Combat columnist
Fri, April 30, 2021, 1:48 AM·6 min read
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RIO RANCHO, NEW MEXICO - FEBRUARY 15: Diego Sanchez reacts after an illegal knee from Michel Pereira in their welterweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Santa Ana Star Center on February 15, 2020 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Diego Sanchez, a winner on Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and one of the promotion’s most popular and longest-tenured fighters, has been released by the UFC.
The UFC has been concerned for some time about the behavior of Sanchez’s coach, Joshua Fabia. Sanchez’s release, however, was facilitated because even though Sanchez passed his medicals for a planned May 8 fight versus Donald Cerrone, neither Fabia nor attorney Charles N. Lakins would confirm to the UFC that Sanchez was not suffering from either short-term or long-term medical issues.
Fabia asked a UFC medical coordinator for all of Sanchez’s medical records going back to “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2004. Several UFC employees told Yahoo Sports that they’d seen Fabia berate employees and so they contacted Hunter Campbell, the UFC’s chief business officer.
Campbell called Fabia and Sanchez and in the conversation, Fabia talked about short-term and long-term medical issues Sanchez may have experienced.
That was a red flag for Campbell, who knew that Sanchez had passed a medical examination, which included a brain scan. Campbell then wrote to Sanchez, expressing concerns about Fabia’s comments and asking Sanchez to verify he was OK.
UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports that the UFC could not put a fighter into the cage in good conscience if the fighter wouldn’t say he or she was healthy and fit to fight.
When Lakins responded to Campbell’s request for clarification of Sanchez’s health, Lakins said Sanchez could not respond because he’s not a neurologist and hadn’t seen one. Upon receipt of that response, Sanchez was formally cut in an email sent on April 27.
Sad Romero is out.
Rumble Romero was one of the best fights booked this year and it was part of a great tournament as well.