If UFC 250 hadn’t been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic it may have featured a short-notice fight between Yoel Romero and Chris Weidman.
That’s the word according to Romero’s manager Malki Kawa, who said they were almost on the verge of sealing the deal before the shutdown.
“They actually offered us Weidman for this next fight, but Yoel has an orbital eye injury,” Kawa said on Instagram Live. “I was waiting to see if I could get him cleared to fight May 9, and they cancelled the event.”
Perhaps it’s best that this fight didn’t end up being made after all though. In fairness, though Weidman’s had a very bad run in recent years, losing five of his past six fights, Romero hasn’t faired much better, losing four of his last five.
However, the devil is in the detail, and looking at Weidman’s record, he was actually KO’d in three of those fights – including his first fight with Romero, in addition to being TKO’d a further two times.
On the other hand, Romero’s losses all came by way of a decision and several were in title fights, so despite now being 42-years-old, he feels like the fresher fighter here.
As such, it does feel as if Weidman could do with having more time on the sidelines and then come back to fight an opponent further down the rankings as looks to get back on track.
However, Romero’s management are still happy to go ahead with the rematch if that’s what the UFC wants.
“He [Romero] might fight Weidman at 205, or anybody at 205 depending on how much time we have to get prepared,” Kawa said. “If not, he’s going to fight mostly at 185.”
