Where does Yoel Romero rank in MW History?

A freak of nature that fought in MMA after his prime days as a wrestler. He was a little over a week away from his 35th birthday at his UFC debut. One of those "what if's" if he decided to make a run at MMA a decade earlier, although I think he had a decent run and one of the most scariest fighters to step in the cage. With that being said it's hard to rank a fighter like him because on paper he doesn't rank high, but had the potential to murk many fighters that would rank higher then him.
 
TadDunbar said:
He missed weight so even if he got the decision, he wouldn't have won tbe belt
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i dont remember which fight it was, but i do remember there was one where he absolutely beat whittaker. if that was the one where he missed weight, then so be it.
 
Get To Da Choppa said:
He would've been GOAT if the whole fight is only 3 minutes long. The man had a questionable gas tank but when he remembered to finish a fight, it was, to quote Joe Rogan, extremely athletic and explosive

Had prime Izzy shook, on the run and point fighting
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i know you are meming. but if he started earlier, the division would of looked vastly different. his wrestling was cream of crop but he wasn't able to use due to father time and having a fused vertabrae.
 
It's still bullshit how Bisping ducked him for two straight fights when he was the clearcut number one contender. And it's not like he was Belal either, fans WANTED to see him fight Bisping.
 
El Panteron said:
Eh I had him winning too, 47-46, but I had just started watching MMA a few months earlier so it wasn't exactly an expert's opinion.
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you dont need to be an expert to tell that one dude definitely won. that was the right choice IMO. sucks because he should have made weight, but also should have gotten that win. could have added the extra motivation, self belief, determining factor to rise to the next level of MMA upper echelons.
 
TempleoftheDog said:
Below EVERY UFC MW champion since Zuffa bought it.

It’s pretty simple. More than just a FEW men have won that belt. Romero has NOT.

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I get that but he would've almost certainly taken the belt from Bisping with fair matchmaking. Instead, Bisping fought (and barely) beat a 46-year old Hendo, who was like Yoel 1.0 but years past his prime and 3-6 in his last 9 fights. Then Bisping fought a WW on a 4-year layoff...and lost.
 
Killer Kadoogan said:
you dont need to be an expert to tell that one dude definitely won. that was the right choice IMO. sucks because he should have made weight, but also should have gotten that win. could have added the extra motivation, self belief, determining factor to rise to the next level of MMA upper echelons.
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The man would have still been 41 after the fight, I don't think he had that much left in him at championship level regardless. Though it does suck to see a guy that deserved to win a championship bout go on the decline right after.
 
I don't know if there is a MW or any fighter in UFC history who has gotten the short end of a stick more than Romero. Dude has horrendous luck, however, partly it's his blame. He visibly conserves energy and that played a vicious role in him getting robbed multiple times. He should have held the strap 100%.
However, he is still one of my all time favorites. People rarely speak of the fact that contender Romero was already in his late 30s. He was never ever in physical prime as an mma fighter. Old man Romero was still a freak, but his gas tank was declining, which explains his conservative style. He also almost never used his biggest skill, wrestling, as that uses the most amount of gas. In his earlier fights, he used it dominantly and it was hard to stop. Just imagine a younger Romero utilizing olympic wrestling to go with that crazy explosion and power....

Have Romero came into the sport at least 3-4 years earlier in age, you could potentially have one of the best ever at MW. With that said, he still had a very productive career, and made a good amount of money and still fighting successfully at 46. I love me some soldier of GOD.
 
He won that second whittaker fight. Idc what anyone says. Unfortunately he missed weight. I think he missed weight against Rockhold too. Dude was a world beater but got in his own way because of weight misses and coasting in fights. He also was the victim of bad timing when Bisping derailed the division.
 
Yoel probably ranks somewhere in the 10-15 range. He had great ability, but his list of top wins is actually pretty thin, and he never held a belt.

Side note: I see people ranking Hendo as a top 5 all-time MW; they were either not around at the time or are rewriting history. Hendo was always better at LHW than he was at MW. He had some really bad losses at MW and won some VERY questionable decisions. People tend to conflate Hendo's overall resume (which is great) with his MW resume (which is very good but not great).
 
Killer Kadoogan said:
as the guy who got absolutely robbed against whittaker. he should have been MW champ 100%.
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It's pretty sill to claim that Yoel got "absolutely robbed" considering the judges, the media, and the fans were VERY split on the scoring. Many people gave it to Whittaker, many gave it to Yoel, and many scored it a draw. By definition, that's not a robber; it's a great, close fight that could have been scored either way.
 
laleggenda27 said:
It's pretty sill to claim that Yoel got "absolutely robbed" considering the judges, the media, and the fans were VERY split on the scoring. Many people gave it to Whittaker, many gave it to Yoel, and many scored it a draw. By definition, that's not a robber; it's a great, close fight that could have been scored either way.
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it was a robbery
 
Skillwise he might be #2 after Silva. He arguably beat Izzy while 43 years old. He made his UFC debut 10 days before turning 36 and was 40 when he got his first title shot. Imagine if he entered the UFC at 26.
 
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