UFC News: Yoel Romero says he haunts Israel Adesanya in his dreams

Yoel Romero won't rest until he gets his title shot against Israel Adesanya. When Paulo Costa, the man originally scheduled to challenge Adesanya for the title got sidelined with injury, Romero immediately threw himself into the mix by calling out the UFC middleweight champion on social media.

Adesanya too, seemed interested in the match up until UFC President Dana White announced that Romero must win another fight in order to deserve a crack at Adesanya's title. That clearly has not deterred Romero as he is still hell-bent on getting the fight scheduled.

In an interaction with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Romero claimed that the fans want to see a fight between him and The Last Stylebender. (h/t MMA Fighting)

“I’m staying ready for the fight because I’m still hungry. I want this fight to happen because many people talk, ‘Who is the true [champion]? Who is the real champion of middleweight?’ And the people know who it is because everybody has seen what happened the last three fights before. Now Israel has the belt, the people want to see who is the real champion.”

Romero also went on to say that Robert Whittaker, the former champion Adesanya beat to take the title has not been the same since returning to the Octagon because of the damage both his mind and body had to endure.

“I have a big respect for Robert Whittaker, but he’s not the same,” Romero said. “You know, when you have many injuries, when you have damage in your body, one day the damage eats your soul or your spirit when you go to fight. I know Rob is a real warrior, a real fighter, but you need to know when you stay ready. You need to listen to your body. I know he wants to fight because inside he’s a warrior but he’s not the same. You can see his punches. You can see the eyes when he goes down... His body is not the same. The body for Rob is damaged.”

Romero believes that the reigning champion Adesanya is spending sleepless nights at the thought of having to face him.

“Israel is not sleeping. When he goes to bed and sleep, he says, ‘I need to fight this guy. I need to fight him because I need in myself, I need in my spirit, in my soul to say I am the world champion.’ Because he knows. The real champ in middleweight, everybody knows who it is...Israel, push. I’ll see you soon, boy.”