UFC Legend Namedrops Yoel Romero As an Interesting 185Lbs Challenge For Khamzat Chimaev

According to Khamzat Chimaev’s social media tease, submission specialist Reinier de Ridder seemed next in line to face the new king. While those rumors have been halted, RDR still makes a good case to challenge ‘Borz’ on a skill-to-skill level. Another unlikely name that has been proposed to face the new 185-pound champ is Yoel Romero.

In the latest episode of MMA Fighting’s “Fighter vs. Writer,” former UFC veteran Matt Brown offered his pitch on Chimaev’s win. Brown asserted that, although Khamzat Chimaev is also formidable in his standup, along with relentless pressure, the key to beating him would be halting his pace altogether.

Brown named ex-UFC middleweight and genetic boogeyman Yoel Romero for it.

Until someone solves his wrestling puzzle, I’m not sure how you’re going to beat him. Someone’s going to have to give him a hard time taking them down where he is forced, forced…[to a standup game]…He’s not going to lose that wrestling. I’m sure that’s who he’s always going to be but if at some point he comes across a Yoel Romero type and he’s forced to stay on the feet; I think it’s going to be exciting to watch.

Matt Brown on his ‘Fighter vs. Writer’ for MMAFighting on SBN

Romero touted a similar wrestling root and started his days in the FILA Wrestling World Championships. Romero’s participation in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics was as a representative of his home nation of Cuba. ‘Soldier of God’ even snagged silver in the 2000 freestyle competition.

Back in those days, Yoel Romero was considered a big frame and stylistic nightmare for whoever ended up facing him. UFC play-by-play broadcaster Joe Rogan would often gloss over all the glory of the Cuban genetic giant as one of the greats in UFC competition.

Throughout his run, Khamzat Chimaev has boasted tremendous opening pressure and strength in his ground game that has been very hard to answer to. Chimaev himself logged a 12-0 record (—92kg bracket) en route to being a three-time Swedish national champ (freestyle) in wrestling. However, given Romero’s size and power, he might have been able to deter that forward pressure in his heyday.

Yoel Romero’s ability as a 185lber despite large frame was consistent astonishment for Joe Rogan

In several ways, Yoel Romero was a 1/1 athlete, combining an impressive and ginormous physique that seemingly never found any wear and tear with exertion of power. He also fought for Strikeforce and challenged for the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship.

This did entail certain drawbacks for the Cuban athlete, who failed to make the required hydration on two consecutive occasions in two UFC title bouts.

Despite the evident challenges, Romero’s transition to a practicing 185-pounder, fueled by a laser-focused approach to managing his cardio in five-round bouts, left Joe Rogan awestruck whenever he witnessed the “Soldier of God” in action.

During his ‘JRE’ MMA Show 137, he told Jorge Masvidal how Romero’s size would bloat back up to its natural hydration after attempting to cut weight at middleweight. Rogan even compared him to competition heavyweights more often.

The only guy who freaked me out was Yoel…Yoel Romero would look so big at 185 pounds, you’re like, ‘How is that 185 pounds? How is that even possible’? He looks like a heavyweight.

Joe Roga during JRE’ MMA Show 137 (@PowerfulJRE)

Even though he didn’t face Khamzat Chimaev, in his peak, he went up against Lyoto Machida, Chris Weidman, Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, and others. Romero last snagged a win at the PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions vs. Thiago Santos. Since then, he has made his transition to the squared ring during the DBX2 championships.

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