Despite announcement, Yoel Romero not competing at UFC 230 vs Paulo Costa

Even though the UFC came out and announced the fight themselves, it looks like they may have gotten a bit too eager as Yoel Romero won’t be ready.

The fight was supposed to be Romero vs the red-hot prospect Paulo Costa on November 3rd at UFC 230 in New York City.

But after Romero’s incredible back and forth rematch with the champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 225, he wouldn’t escape without some injuries. Most notable being a broken orbital that Romero says is still recovering as he told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.

“Maybe four or five months [until I can return]. The doctor said, ‘Yoel needs more time.’ You know me. If you give me somebody, I take it. But you need to be smart. When the doctor says, ‘You’re ready,’ you can go. I’m waiting.

My eye is not ready. I want to fight, but it is what it is. The doctor said, ‘Yoel cannot fight.’ I want to fight on this card, this show. Anytime you have an opportunity to fight at Madison Square Garden in New York, you’re making history. But I need to wait.”

The announcement partly came as a surprise because many assumed that Romero would be moving up to the light heavyweight division for his next outing as he has missed the 185-pound mark for his last two fights.

On top of that, he was calling out the light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier for a brief period prior to the Costa fight being announced.

Regardless, Romero seems to be putting that idea on hold.

“I talked with the UFC and said I’m not going to go up [in weight]. Maybe in the future. People need to see the belt on my body. When I take the belt, maybe I’ll go up and fight a super fight [against another champion].”

on 8/20/2018