An improved Romero proves he's world title material
I wasn't too surprised when American Top Team head coach Ricardo Liborio told us that former two-time Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero was perhaps the best athlete on the South Florida super team. After all, the Cuban is recognized as one of the very best international wrestlers of his generation.
It was interesting to hear the BJJ legend describe Romero as a humble sponge of a super student, however. Liborio told me that he believed Romero had the stuff to become the middleweight world champion, and I thought that he'd indeed have to be a helluva fast learner to be able to get to that point, given his relative late start in MMA, and given his age of 38.
Romero proved his coach correct and showed that he does indeed learn and improve at a super-human pace, Saturday night, with a knockout win over future hall of famer Lyoto Machida. Romero finished the fight with a great knee-tap takedown and concussive short elbows on the ground, but it was his patience, good timing and calm on the feet in the striking department with Machida that most clearly showed his improvement.
Make no mistake about it -- Romero was already on a roll heading into Saturday's UFC Fight Night main event. He'd won five straight fights, including four by stoppage.
He still always looked like a raw talent with a big upside, but one who was also far from perfect. Romero's takedowns in MMA were always impressive, but he also allowed lesser wrestlers to take him down at times.
He showed KO power in his strikes, but he was still often off-balance and wild, leaving him out of position and tired. There is no shame in those flaws, as no fighter is without fault. You just had to wonder if Romero would have enough time to reach his MMA potential with the years in his athletic prime that he had left.
If a 22-year-old fighter with Romero's abilities entered MMA, you'd have to bet he'd eventually get to the top, if he stayed healthy. Mid-30's Romero just seemed like he'd run out of temporal real estate before he could fully realize his potential.
Though Romero still looked as athletic and scary as ever against Machida, he also showed a marked improvement since his fight last September against Tim Kennedy in the areas of poise, striking technique and timing. The Yoel Romero we saw fight evenly with Machida in two rounds of pure stand-up striking showed balance, sense of and control of distance, crispness and patience that he'd never shown before.
If Yoel Romero continues to improve at this pace in between fights, he most certainly could become the middleweight champion. Chris Weidman is still the deserved king of the division after beating three legends of the sport in succession.
However, it isn't hard to imagine the Romero of Saturday night being able to hang in there on the feet with Weidman, since he was able to do it against Machida. And, if Romero could earn Weidman's respect on the feet with strikes, he would also be more than capable of putting Weidman on his back.
There are not many other, if any, middleweights who would have a good chance of taking the "All-American" down, but Romero has that ability. Should he get that chance and get the champ on his heels and on his back, all bets would be off.
Now is the time to admit that, just as I did with Luke Rockhold before, I've underestimated just how good Yoel Romero can be. One of the best prospects in MMA is no longer a lump of unmolded clay.
He's been sculpted by his own work, and the work of his ATT coaches and teammates, into a savvy, well-rounded MMA fighter. He's become world class in MMA, and I wouldn't be shocked to see him wearing gold around his waist in a year or so.
