For an Olympic silver medalist in wrestling, Yoel Romero is getting awfully good at knocking people out.
The Cuban born fighter debuted in the UFC earlier this year when he made short work of fellow wrestler Clifford Starks with a spectacular flying knee to win the fight and a Knockout of the Night bonus to boot. For his second fight, it took a little while longer to get the job done, but the work was completed nonetheless.
Romero appeared early in his fight against Brazilian Ronny Markes as if he was in a sparring session at his home gym, working against teammates to break a good sweat. Almost as if he was toying with his opponent, Romero occasionally launched a big punch or kick but rarely followed them up with much of anything as he casually stalked his prey across the Octagon.
When the fight did hit the mat it was Markes who took Romero down, but it didn't last long as the life long wrestler quickly scrambled and got back to the feet.
With time running short in the third round, Romero continued to bomb away at Markes looking for the one perfect punch to put the fight away. It finally happened at just over 1:30 into the round when Romero tossed a huge left hand that crushed Markes' and sent him falling to the mat. Romero only needed a couple of extra punches for good measure before the referee swooped in for the save.
Since moving to middleweight, Romero is a flawless 2-0 (6-1 overall) and looking like a very exciting addition to the division, especially given the fact that he's won both fights by knockout and still hasn't even shown off his wrestling game, which may be the most potent tool in his entire arsenal.
