According to Yoel Romero, he has been told by the UFC that he will be next in line to fight middleweight champion Robert Whittaker for the title.
Romero already lost out to Whittaker by unanimous decision back in July of last year in an interim title fight at UFC 213, but a KO victory over former titleholder Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 earlier this month appears to have put him right back in the title picture.
However, it seems that ‘The Soldier Of God’ will have to wait for a while longer before the rematch can happen.
“I don’t have an idea (of when),” Romero told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “Maybe July? I don’t know when. I hear he’s sick, he’s feeling no good, he’s feeling very bad. I pray for him. I’m waiting. I’m waiting for him.”
Meanwhile, despite being 40-years-old, Romero still appears to be a picture of health.
“I think a lot about this,” Romero admitted.
“I try to stay (living) a very clean life and very quiet, but I think this is God. Believe me, I think it’s God. It’s God. But if you go to Cuba, you can see many people like me too. Normal people. Normal people, not athletes. Normal people on the street. Many people are like this. But you can look like this but you can’t fight, because it’s different. That’s why, I think, this is (because of) God.”
While they are waiting for Whittaker to recover, Romero’s team are in the process of lobbying for the fight to take place in a city close to Romero’s heart – Miami.
“This is amazing. I think if that happens, Miami is so big, (they’ll be) happy. Everybody in Miami (would be) so happy. I want it. I want it, I want this to happen.”
Regardless of where the fight takes place though, Romero is determined to emerge with a victory for his fans around the globe.
“Cuba will [go] crazy, Miami will [go] crazy. Many people in the world will be so happy, it’ll [be] crazy, believe me.
“I’m very excited, I’m very happy.”
