Yoel Romero set to make Bellator debut in September against Phil Davis
Yoel Romero will finally make his Bellator debut.
On Thursday, it was revealed Romero finally was cleared to return and Scott Coker made it known they were looking to book him ASAP. Of course, Romero was supposed to fight Anthony Johnson in the light heavyweight grand prix but he failed the pre-fight medical.
“I think he is cleared now, so I think we’ll be looking to book him and have him fight before the end of the year,” Coker told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “I think he’s good to go on all cylinders moving forward. Give us another week or two and we’ll figure it out and put him on a card somewhere.”
Now, according to MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani, who broke the news on his substack, Romero will make his Bellator debut on September 18 against Phil Davis. The fight will serve as the main event of Bellator 266 and the event will take place in San Jose, California.
Yoel Romero (13-5) has not fought since March of 2020 when he suffered a decision loss to Israel Adesanya for the UFC’s middleweight title. It was a lackluster fight with not much action and it served as his third loss in a row. He also dropped decisions to Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker, which was supposed to be for the middleweight title but he missed weight. His last win happened at UFC 221 in February of 2018 where he KO’d Luke Rockhold. In his career, he also holds notable wins over Chris Weidman, Jacare Souza, Lyoto Machida, and Derek Brunson.
Phil Davis (22-6 and one No Contest) is coming off a decision loss to Vadim Nemkov for the light heavyweight title and also served as the opening round of the grand prix. He’s the former Bellator light heavyweight champ and was riding a three-fight winning streak before the setback. Davis also competed in the UFC from 2010 to 2015. In his career, he holds notable wins over Glover Teixeira, Alexander Gustafsson, Lyoto Machida, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and King Mo.
