Yoel Romero released by UFC, other 60 fighters to follow

The end of this year at the UFC looks less happy than usual. In the previous years, UFC was used to hold a final event on 31 December to celebrate the New Year with its MMA enthusiasts. This year it seems that UFC has decided to clean up the roster instead. Recently Dana White has announced a massive release of fighters in the UFC promotion. And to show that the cleaning is already happening, UFC first has released Anderson Silva and afterwards, the world’s top MMA promotion has surprised everyone by releasing the former number 1 middleweight contender Yoel Romero.

Releasing Yoel Romero (13-5-0) from the UFC roster was an unexpected decision that stunned everyone. Dana White, UFC president, told the media that they are going to cut at least other 60 fighters from the roster. Though nobody knows the other names yet, unpredictable decision may be taken in line with the release of Yoel Romero.

Yoel Romero has not won a single bout since 2018 and this gave Dana White every reason to ax him from the roster. Dana has recently stated that Romero was out of touch and has lost 4 of his last 5 fights. The 43-years-old mixed martial artist is riding a 3-match losing streak at the moment and it seems that no MMA promotion is interested in signing a contract with him.
When the news broke, many people in the MMA community thought that it will be a treat for other big promotions like Bellator, but surprisingly, none of them showed interest in Yoel Romero.

Another big name that have been already axed from the roster is Anderson “The Spider” Silva (34-11-1 NC) who has been losing since 2013. The man who once ruled the world of mixed martial arts has won only one game since 2013 and it will be a difficult task for “The Spider” to find a place in other promotions.

Going back to Yoel Romero, there can be a few promotions who may not close their doors on the Cuban: one is the Japan-based promotion Rizin FF; the second one could be Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Though BKFC has already refused Silva, it does not mean that the BKFC authorities will say no to Romero as well. His agent Malki Kawa has told the media that Yoel Romero may move to light heavyweight without specifying of which MMA promotion.