Yoel Romero, whose height and weight allows him to perform in middle weight (182 cm and 75 kg), is considered one of the most formidable fighters of the mixed style of the UFC organization. He began his sports career as a fighter, achieved excellent results at the Olympics, after which he decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts. Now Yoel Romero, whose biography will be described below, takes second place in the ranking of the best middle-weight fighters, and is also among the twenty strongest, regardless of weight category.
Pride of Liberty Island
Yoel was born in Cuba in 1977. He grew up in a very athletic family, the brother of a fighter - the famous boxer Joan Pablo Hernandez, who is the world champion in the light heavyweight category. Apparently, in order to avoid rivalry with his brother, Yoel Romero decided not to engage in boxing, which is considered the number one sport in Cuba, but in freestyle wrestling.
Here, the Cubans are not as strong as in boxing, but Yoel managed to achieve excellent results. In 1997, he won bronze at the World Cup, and two years later he became the strongest freestyle wrestler in the world.
Everyone was counting on his victory at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, but Adam Saitiev, a stern native of the North Caucasus, stood in the way of the son of Freedom Island, stopping him in the tournament finale.
Yoel Romero continued his performances on the carpet, more than once won medals in world championships, won the World Cup, and was invariably the best at the Pan American Games. At the age of 30, he realized that in freestyle wrestling he had reached his maximum and decided to change his sports specialization.
The beginning of a career in MMA
The ability to fight on the ground is considered a basic skill for any mixed-style fighter, and the great freestyle wrestler Yoel Romero had every chance of making an excellent career in MMA. To begin with, he moved to Germany, where local promoters were waiting for him with open arms.
The trainings of Yoel Romero took place under the strict guidance of Sergey Kuftin and Zike Simich, who diligently taught the Cuban the techniques of combat sambo, MMA, worked on his shock training. In 2009, mentors with trepidation in the heart released their age student into the ring, where he was opposed by Sasha Weinpolter. Yoel passed the first exam perfectly, easily knocking out an opponent in his first fight.
Over the next few years, the Cuban invariably won, participating in tournaments of various European promotions in Germany and Poland. To the delight of the coaches, he did not rely solely on his wrestler skills, actively using punches and causing a lot of trouble to his opponents.
First defeat
Soon, Joel Romero became cramped as part of second-rate promotions, and in 2011 he signed a contract with the reputable Strikeforce. However, the Cuban is trying not to recall cooperation with this organization today. He got a very serious rival in the person of Raphael Cavalcante.
Yoel was not accustomed to the high level of his opponents and was a little confused at the beginning of the battle under the onslaught of Raphael's attacks. Already in the second round, Cavalcant knocked out Romero, putting an end to his successful career in the new promotion.
Worst of all, Yoel suffered a serious neck injury. The treatment and subsequent rehabilitation disabled him for two long years, during which he restored his physical and psychological state.
UFC
In 2013, Yoel Romero returned to service by signing a contract with the most famous promoter company - UFC. From the age-old fighter who recently returned to the cage, few expected special feats, but the Cuban was very serious and in the first fight knocked out Clifford Starks. Moreover, Romero did it so spectacularly that he received an award for the best knockout of the evening event.
UFC bosses sensed that the Cuban’s battles would be very spectacular and began to offer him more and more opponents. Always charged for victory, Yoel Romero worked on his bread regularly for several years, giving out bright and colorful fights, all the while winning.
I especially remember the fights with Tim Kennedy and Derek Brunson, who were awarded the UFC's Best Fight of the Night award.
In 2017, forty-year-old Yoel Romero got the opportunity to fight for the title of interim world champion in middleweight. The rival of the Cuban became the younger and sharper Robert Whittaker.
However, he respected the veteran's abilities and tried to avoid being transferred to the ground where the advantage of the Olympic medalist in freestyle wrestling was undeniable. The fight lasted all the prescribed time and ended with a Whittaker victory by a judicial decision.
Nevertheless, Yoel Romero is still considered a formidable fighter, which is reflected in the ranking of the middleweights, where he occupies an honorable second position.