Tag Archives: Yoel Romero

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire to Fight Sergio Pettis at Bellator 297 for Chance to Become Three-Division Champion

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Patricio “Pitbull” Freire is hoping to make history…

The 35-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, who reigns at featherweight and vacated the lightweight title in 2021, will go for a third belt when he takes on bantamweight champ Sergio Pettis at Bellator 297 on June 16 in Chicago.

Patricio "Pitbull" FreireIf he wins, Freire will become the first three-division champ in a major fight promotion.

The bout at Wintrust Arena will serve as the co-main event of another newly announced title fight, in which light heavyweight champ Vadim Nemkov will defend against Yoel Romero. Those two originally were slated to meet in February, but Nemkov withdrew for an undisclosed reason.

The bantamweight title bout will be Pettis’ second defense of a championship he won in 2021. He has won five fights in a row, a run extending back to his time with the UFC, but has not competed since December 2021 because of injury.

Freire, who already is arguably the most accomplished fighter in Bellator MMA history, has won three in a row and 10 of his past 11.

The Pettis-Freire winner is expected to face the winner of the ongoing Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix. Interim champ Raufeon Stots and Patchy Mix will meet in the tournament final April 22.

Nemkov is unbeaten in his past 11 fights, most recently winning a decision over Corey Anderson in November for his third successful title defense.

Romero, a 2000 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling who in 2020 challenged for the UFC middleweight belt, has won two in row, both by knockout. He will be 46 years old on fight night.

Yoel Romero Signs New Multi-Fight Deal with Bellator

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Yoel Romero is preparing to fight for a new partner…

The 43-year-old Cuban mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler, and a multiple-time UFC title challenger, has agreed to a new multi-fight deal with Bellator, according to ESPN.

Yoel Romero

Romero is expected to sign his new deal imminently.

The deal comes less than two weeks after the UFC released Romero after more than seven years in the promotion.

Initially, Bellator officials passed on Romero, but after further talks, the two sides were able to come to an agreement.

Romero is expected to debut at 205 pounds, which is the weight class in which he started his career. His debut fight and date are not set yet.

His most recent fight was a loss to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision in March. Both Romero and Adesanya received criticism after the fight because it did not live up to expectations.

Romero won a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He made his MMA debut in 2009 and his UFC debut in 2013. He won his first eight fights inside the Octagon before losing an interim middleweight title fight to Robert Whittaker in July 2017. He fought for the interim or undisputed middleweight title four times but never won the UFC belt.

Anderson Silva to Fight Uriah Hall in October UFC Fight Night

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Anderson Silva is returning to the Octagon…

The 45-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, one of the greatest legends of the sport, has booked his next fight.

Anderson Silva

Silva has agreed to meet Uriah Hall in the main event of UFC Fight Night on October 31, according to UFC president Dana White.

The event will take place at a location to be determined. Silva’s longtime manager, Jorge Guimaraes, also confirmed the bout to ESPN.

During a news conference on Tuesday, White hinted it might be the final fight of Silva’s storied career. Guimares told ESPN a decision on his final fight has not yet been made, and the team is taking it fight by fight. Silva, a former middleweight champion, has two fights left on his UFC contract.

“We like the fight, and we’ll see how he does,” Guimaraes told ESPN. “The man is 45 years old, but he’s always in good shape, always training. I was at his house the other day, and he was training well. He’s lost a lot of weight, and he’s been eating healthy.”

Silva (34-10) was booked to fight Hall in May 2014, but he was forced to withdraw due to unexpected surgery to remove his gallbladder. Remarkably, Silva ended up fighting former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 on just two days’ notice two months after surgery.

The matchup has not been booked since, but the UFC has chosen now to revisit it. Silva has not fought since he suffered a TKO loss to Jared Cannonier at UFC 237 in May 2019. Silva suffered a knee injury in the bout, and it has kept him sidelined since. He underwent a stem cell procedure on the knee as recently as May.

Hall (15-9) has not yet fought in 2020. He has had terrible luck this year, as scheduled bouts against former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero have fallen through. The Souza bout was canceled after the Brazilian fighter tested positive for COVID-19, and Romero pulled out of a fight against Hall this weekend due to injury.

Silva is considered one of the greatest fighters of all time. He held the UFC’s 185-pound middleweight title from 2006 to 2013.

Paulo Costa to Take On Defending Champion Israel Adesanya in UFC Middleweight Title Fight

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Paulo Costa is getting his title chance…

Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against the 29-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artiston September 19, according to ESPN.

Paulo Costa

This weekend, Costa tweeted: “The fight is on folks!” News of the fight was first reported by Combate.

The fight, which will take place at UFC 253, doesn’t have a location yet. It probably will take place in either Las Vegas or Abu Dhabi, but the promotion hasn’t finalized those plans just yet because of the coronavirus pandemic, sources said.

Originally, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje was targeted for September 19. Though no official determination has been made regarding that fight, sources say the current plan is to headline the card with Adesanya vs. Costa and then do Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje for the lightweight title later in the fall.

Adesanya (19-0) successfully defended the middleweight title for the first time in March when he defeated Yoel Romero via unanimous decision. That fight was supposed to be against his bitter rival, Costa, however, Costa was forced out of the fight after suffering a torn left biceps.

Costa (13-0), most recently defeated Romero via unanimous decision in August 2019.

The duo have been entangled in a war of words since before Adesanya won the middleweight title in October.

The fight will mark just the second time in UFC history that two undefeated males fight for an undisputed title. The first time was back in 2008 when champion Rashad Evans defended the light heavyweight title against Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.