Yoel Romero is rightly considered to be one of the most athletic fighters to have ever stepped foot inside the octagon. At 42 years old Yoel, a late comer to MMA, only transitioning from wrestling to MMA in 2009 at the age of 32, doesn’t appear to have enough time left to launch another title campaign. Of course nothing is set in stone, injuries happen that sideline fighters, giving opportunities to whoever is willing to step in at short notice but as dismissive as this seems, I think this would be the only path to another title shot available to Yoel.



Before I move on to layout my case about why I believe Yoel may have become a new breed of Uber-Gatekeeper, which I’m going to refer to as a Sentinel further on, to one of the most dangerous divisions in the UFC, I would like to point out that I in no way believe this makes Yoel any less talented, or dangerous, I think this is a position of unfortunate circumstances, rather than Yoel’s lack of ability, or achievements. I would also like to clarify the context/definition of my use of the word Gatekeeper, just to make sure we are all singing off the same hymn sheet because it is a word that can have different meanings to different people. And it can invoke negative connotations (another reason I will later refer to him as a Sentinel) that I find a little redundant in the circumstances.



To me a Gatekeeper is a fighter that is used as a measuring stick of sorts, you can be a Gatekeeper to the top 15, you can be a Gatekeeper to the top 5, you can be a Gatekeeper to a title shot, it isn’t something that is limited by numbers. Another aspect of being a Gatekeeper, is that this person has never become Champion, they can get incredibly close but always seem to just fall short when it matters the most. It isn’t necessarily a permanent status either, for years Michael Bisping was widely considered to be the perennial Gatekeeper of the middleweight division and we all know how his story finished, as a badass one eyed former Champion. I don’t think the term should be considered the dirty word that it is, or diminishing in any way, ultimately these fighters are elites, they are in the ufc, that in itself is testament to the skill level of these fighters. We need to drop the negative connotations that come with this term, resulting in rambling paragraphs explaining context before I’ve even got to my point but for the sake of taking baby steps from here on, I will refer to Romero as a Sentinel. I’m finished, rambling about this point now, I promise, let’s move this along.



Romero Olympic Silver medallist 2000.

Yoel Romero, seems to have made a habit out of just falling short when it is most important, his pre-MMA, freestyle wrestling career is reflective of the same circumstances he currently finds himself in. During his career wrestling, he had several notable wins over Olympic Gold medalists, three to be precise, with five more wins over five World Champion Wrestlers. He dropped a controversial decision over a wrestler called Adam Saitiev, during the Summer Olympics of 2000, in the finals, resulting in him being awarded a silver Olympic medal. It all sounds very familiar doesn’t it? Let’s compare this to his UFC career, he has notable wins over three former Champions, Machida a former LHW Champion and Rockhold & Weidman, both former Champions of the MW division. He has controversial title fights, only one of which is officially recognised as a title fight, his initial fight with Whittaker, for the MW Interim Title, which Romero lost. This fight would become his only legitimate Interim Title Fight, despite two further opportunities to claim gold.



Romero was given second opportunity to obtain an Interim Title,after an injured Whittaker needed to pull out of his scheduled fight & what would have been his first Title defense (the UFC promoted Rob to Undisputed Champ following GSP’s retirement) against Rockhold. A second Interim Title fight took place between Romero & Rockhold, after Romero was pulled from a scheduled fight with Branch to replace Whittaker. As mentioned earlier Romero did win this fight KOing Rockhold in the 3rd but he was excluded from gaining the Interim Championship for failing to make weight.



A third & to date final Title fight was scheduled to take place between Whittaker & Romero, it would be Whittaker’s first official undisputed title defense since unification. However Romero came in overweight for a second time ahead of a title fight & the title was taken off the line as a result. Whittaker was unable to record this as an official defense & Romero would not have been able to claim the championship if he had won. Ultimately, Romero dropped a controversial decision in a brutally fought, close battle & Whittaker retained the Undisputed Championship regardless of the outcome.



Whittaker managed to edge out a controversial decision win over Romero.

All of the above leads us to his recent circumstances, we can agree or disagree over him being a victim of circumstance, or a victim of his inability to stamp his dominance over a round, in the event of a fight reaching a decision. He certainly shares his burden of the responsibility, when you chose to engage in a style that relies on preserving cardio in the earlier rounds, to increase his likelihood of an explosive finish in the third and you don’t get that finish, you have to take responsibility for that. When it works it works but when it doesn’t we get results that not everyone agrees with. I think one thing we can all agree with, is whether you believe he “won” or didn’t, officially he didn’t and fighters losing to close decisions cannot be given precedence over fighters with official wins on their record. And it is this crucial point that has positioned Romero in the role of Sentinel, rather than any decline in his ability.



His fight with Paulo Costa has sent Costa on a first class trip to a title shot, that is what a win over Romero gets you. It is commonly accepted that men don’t “beat” Romero, they survive Romero, prestige like that only strengthens a fighter’s title campaign. A loss to Romero signals that you are not MW Champion material, look no further than Rockhold a former middleweight champion who, following his loss to Romero, decided the best option was to move up a weight class. We have a more recent example of how valued Romero is as a sentinel, in the form of Jared Cannonier, who was something of a dark horse in the division until his recent dominant performance & win against the well regarded Jack Hermansson, many consider to be a future contender. Now a name that barely passed anyone’s lips prior to his win over Hermansson, is now being suggested as Yoel’s next opponent, with the general consensus being if he beats Yoel, he deserves a title shot.



Jared Cannonier has found his home at Middleweight.

As for Romero’s current positioning, with the exception of an injury & short notice replacement, I don’t see a way that he ever gets another title shot. I’m not sure the change in Champion does a lot to change the position he was in while Whittaker sat on the throne. At the time of writing this, Yoel is currently ranked #3 & I realise this makes my opinion seem weak, why would anyone in their right mind consider a fighter who is ranked #3 has very little chance of gaining a further title shot? I get it but let me present the logic that has brought me to this conclusion, before you decide that I’m just bonkers, a casual, or both. Again, it has more to do with what is going on around Yoel, than it does with Yoel himself.



As mentioned earlier, we have Costa, widely considered first in line for Adesanya’s first title defense and as active as Adesanya is, I can’t imagine this fight will take place this year. The traditional end of year PPV could be doable, so I won’t completely reject the possibility but it’s still closer to 2020, than 2019.



We have the #4 ranked Gastelum scheduled to fight the currently unranked at MW, Till. I think it is safe to assume that if Gastelum wins this fight, he will be a shoo-in for a title shot & will no doubt take Yoel’s #3 spot. I can’t imagine what the landscape will look like if Till wins, I’d like to say one win in the MW division would not be enough to get a title shot but who knows, the UFC have been less predictable when it comes to their favourites.



We also cannot forget Whittaker, currently ranked #1, his last loss lit a fire under him so intense it fueled him all the way to the throne, don’t think for a second he won’t have his eye set on another title run. And at 28, time is on his side, which is not something we can say about Romero.



The Soldier of God.

Something I feel confident saying is that with each win the current top 5 get, it moves Yoel further away from contention. He has experienced three title losses, with no sign of changing the high risk fight style he has always favoured. In addition to the fighters that have already made it past Yoel on their way to a shot, there are also prospects on the march up the rankings & Yoel Romero is in their way. Contenders lapping him, prospects chasing him, haunted by the ghosts of missing weight when it mattered the most & the ticking of father time constantly playing in his ears. All these factors have come together & have resulted in Romero becoming the key to unlock access to a Champion, with very little option to progress himself, currently. I believe it is the amalgamation of these numerous factors that have resulted in Romero becoming the sentinel of one of the most stacked divisions in the UFC. And unique circumstances create unique situations, the position Romero finds himself in within middleweight, most likely would not have happened in any other division. A unique gatekeeper, requires a unique name and sentinel, defined as a soldier (how perfect is that? Soldier of God, anyone?!) whose job is to stand & keep watch, limit access and for now, that is all Romero can really do.



Ms Hot Balls signing off.

