Yoel Romero beats 'Jacare' Souza, proclaims 'I am ready' for a title shot
Yoel Romero nearly got a finish in round one but had to survive a late comeback from Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to eke out a split-decision victory on Saturday night at UFC 194.
Romero put on a show in the first five minutes, but it looked like his gas tank was waning as the fight got deeper and deeper into the third round.
At the start of the fight, both contenders stayed at striking range with Romero's deceptive hands and footwork keeping Souza on the outside.
Finally with just about 90 seconds to go in the round, Souza got aggressive and missed on a strike. Romero uncorked a hellish spinning back fist in return that slammed into the Brazilian's face and sent him down to the ground.
Romero quickly followed him to the mat and looked for some heavy ground and pound, but Souza recovered enough to keep him at bay and not take too much damage. Souza even countered with an armbar towards the end of the round, but Romero remained in control until the horn sounded.
Souza sat on his heels for a few seconds before finally getting up and making it to his corner after a tough first round.
Souza tried desperately to get Romero to the ground but the Cuban-born wrestler blocked his best attempted by grabbing onto the fence, which forced a restart and a stern warning from the referee.
With the fighters back on the feet, Souza landed a couple of his best punches but still didn't engage in too many big exchanges with Romero's power in the counters.
Following a sleepy second round, Romero woke up a bit during the final five minutes as he continued to pop Souza with good shots but eventually stood in front of the Brazilian too long and got caught in an exchange where he took the brunt of the punishment. 'Jacare' quickly ducked down and put Romero on the mat.
Despite Romero's incredible wrestling history, he couldn't get out from under Souza as the time wound down and it made the fight a very tough call for the judges.
The scores finally came back 29-27 and 29-28 for Romero with a third score of 29-28 in favor of Souza.
With this win, Romero is more than likely the next man in line for a shot at the middleweight title and he didn't hesitate to accept that challenge.
"I am ready," Romero shouted.
The title goes up for grabs at UFC 194 and the winner between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold could be staring down a fight with Romero next year.
