UFC president Dana White has revealed that former opponents of Yoel Romero say that fighting him was like “hitting a piece of concrete”.
Yoel Romero is widely considered to be one of the scariest fighters in the UFC, and potentially in all of MMA. Romero turns 43 in April, but he still has an incredible physique and speed that defies all forms of logic at the highest level of the sport.
During a media day interview ahead of Romero’s UFC 248 Middleweight title fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 248, UFC president Dana White gave us a bit of perspective on what it’s like to share the Octagon with the “Soldier of God”.
“I think the fascinating thing about when you talk about Yoel Romero, and losing these fights, is that when you talk to the guys he fought, let them tell you the story of how the fight played out,” White said. “Every time they hit him, it hurt them. They said it’s literally like fighting a piece of concrete, and nobody that’s ever fought him wants to fight him again. They don’t wanna fight him again. Those are the type of things that would make a guy who’s the champ say ‘I don’t need that s***’, right? He’s [Adesanya] opting to fight Yoel Romero. If you don’t like that, you’re not a fan of fighting and you probably shouldn’t watch this fight anyway.”
White is most likely referring to comments made by Robert Whittaker after the faced each other back in 2018. Whittaker described fighting Yoel Romero like he was made of steel.
Despite there only being a few men who would willingly face Romero in the Octagon, Adesanya sees this win as an essential part of his Middleweight legacy. He has stated that he isn’t afraid of the “boogeyman” Romero.
Just winning against Yoel Romero is an achievement within itself, but look for “The Last Stylebender” to try to finish him — something that no one else has been able to do in the UFC so far.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 4th March, 2020.
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