LAS VEGAS – It didn’t happen this time, but Yoel Romero hasn’t given up hope of becoming a UFC champion.

Romero came somewhat close to gold on Saturday after putting fellow UFC 213 headliner Robert Whittaker in a tight spot early on with some vicious low side kicks. Whittaker, however, weathered through the early adversity en route to a unanimous-decision win. With his efforts, came the UFC’s interim middleweight title.

The tough loss in such a big pay-per-view headliner would’ve been enough to bring any man down. But showing that it’s not just his physique that borders on the superhuman, Romero showed up at the post-event press conference in seemingly good spirits.

So, after nearly 20 minutes of patiently fielding questions from reporters with the help of an interpreter, the question arose: What’s behind Romero’s unwavering positive attitude?

“Very simple: All of us who are here, we’re healthy,” Romero said backstage at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “I’m healthy. I’m doing what I love. I’m doing what helps my family. I’m learning. In spite of being 40, I feel like a pioneer in this sport. I’ll keep going.”

This was Romero’s first loss in almost six years. It was also only the second setback of his entire career, after being knocked out by the much larger Rafael Cavalcante in a 2011 Strikeforce fight. After joining the UFC, Romero went on an eight-fight winning streak and recently knocked out ex-champs Lyoto Machida and Chris Weidman – with a split call over fellow contender Ronaldo Souza in between.

And he came relatively close to adding yet another victim to his extensive list with Whittaker (19-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC). After some early success with low kicks – which the Aussie later admitted put him in some real trouble – Romero (12-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) seemed ahead on the scorecards. Until, in Round 3, he significantly slowed down.

Romero will sit down with his team and review the footage to see exactly what went wrong. But he said that the cardio – commonly pointed out as the biggest weakness of his game – was not it. In fact, Romero said he didn’t feel particularly tired and doesn’t really see any mistakes made strategy-wise.

Giving Whittaker the fourth round, Romero said, was part of the game plan to make a strong comeback in the fifth. The way he sees it, that was working until the final minute of the fight. His focus is now figuring out how exactly he ended up on the floor, which made way for Whittaker’s final flurry.

“I have to review the video, and I really need to see how I fell in the last minute of the last round,” Romero said. “If that wouldn’t have happened, more than likely I’d have the belt sitting right here in front of me.”

One question that came up was why he didn’t continue attacking Whittaker’s leg after it proved to be so effective early on. Romero, in turn, said he was not oblivious to the damage he was causing. But it’s not like Whittaker didn’t have a say in how the fight unfolded.

“Yes, of course (I wanted to keep it going), but he wasn’t giving me the opportunity,” Romero said. “Every time I tried to do the same side kick to the knee, he would switch his legs. And I was running the risk of remaining inside his guard (and) within reach of his hands.”

While Saturday’s outcome wasn’t exactly what he expected, Romero has an optimistic outlook on the future.

“The game isn’t over,” Romero said. “We’ve got a second part coming. To be continued.”

Now all signs indicate that newly crowned interim champ Whittaker will meet the undisputed titleholder, Michael Bisping, in a title-unifier. But, for a while after a matchup between Bisping and former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre was ruled out, Romero was the one slated to meet Bisping.

Bisping later revealed a knee injury, prompting Saturday’s interim affair to be scheduled. Whether that long-awaited meeting with the Brit ever comes to fruition, Romero can’t tell for sure. But hey, crazier things have happened.

“Well, if he beats Robert, I’m there,” Romero said. “Anyway, all paths are very mysterious, always. You never know what can happen tomorrow. Hey, you never know. Something may happen. (UFC President Dana White) might call me, and he might tell me, ‘Yoel, time to come get it.'”

Other than a few cuts to his face, and a pain in his left leg that he hopes isn’t serious, Romero feels healthy and prepared to get back on the horse soon. Among all the uncertainty of his next steps, he can tell you this: “I have a great conviction: I’m taking this title.”

To hear from Romero himself, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage UFC 213, check out the UFC Events section of the site.