Yoel Romero reportedly parts ways with UFC after 7 years with the company

In what has come as unexpected news in the final month of 2020, The Solider of God Yoel Romero has reportedly parted ways with the UFC. Ariel Helwani of ESPN first reported this, stating that Yoel Romero originally had three more fights left in his contract.

Yoel Romero and the UFC have parted ways, multiple sources told @arielhelwani. pic.twitter.com/TdaoL9tNFZ

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 5, 2020

Without a doubt the most shocking news of the week in the MMA world. While Yoel Romero hasn't had the most flattering record since 2017 (losing four out of five fights), the Cuban star was widely regarded as the most dangerous man in the 185-pound division.

Yoel Romero's last fight was for the Middleweight Championship and his performance was put on blast by UFC President Dana White and several fans across the world. He lost to Israel Adesanya in a stale decision where neither man did enough to live up to the hype of their main event fight.

Romero, in particular, was criticized since it was likely his last title opportunity. He didn't fight with a sense of urgency and Israel Adesanya fought safely to prevent taking much damage.

Ultimately, Yoel Romero was never even supposed to get a title shot. Since Paulo Costa was injured, Israel Adesanya personally requested the Cuban for his first title defense as the Undisputed Middleweight King.

In the last few years, Yoel Romero was defeated by Robert Whittaker twice, Paulo Costa once, and Israel Adesanya once. Both his title shots in 2018 saw him miss weight, making him ineligible to fight for the Championship. It's something that has eluded him and the 43-year old is now out of the UFC.

What's next for Yoel Romero?

Unlike Anderson Silva, all the other top promotions will likely be fighting to sign Yoel Romero. Bellator and ONE FC are his most-likely destinations. However, there's still no clarity about why Yoel Romero parted ways with the UFC.

That will likely emerge in the coming days.