A few weeks ago, the UFC curiously announced a middleweight bout between Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero for UFC 230 in November. The bout didn’t make sense on multiple levels - the top two being that Romero had already announced a move to 205 pounds, and that he was injured.

Today as a guest on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN, Romero made it clear that while he’s not moving to light heavyweight right away as expected, he won’t be able to compete in November due to recovery from surgery:

“Maybe four or five months. The doctor said, ‘Yoel needs more time.’ You know me. If you give me somebody, I take it. But you need to be smart. When the doctor says, ‘You’re ready,’ you can go. I’m waiting.”

...

“I talked with the UFC and said I’m not going to go up (to 205). Maybe in the future. People need to see the belt on my body. When I take the belt, maybe I’ll go up and fight a superfight.”

Romero has missed weight for both of his last two fights, which would have been for titles if he could have made it. He stopped Luke Rockhold in Australia, but came up short for a second time against current champion Robert Whittaker in May. He apparently suffered a broken orbital bone in that fight and had surgery to repair it.

Romero also noted in the interview that he had signed a new eight-fight contract with the UFC.