MMA FIGHTERS YOEL ROMERO VS PAULO COSTA HEADLINE UFC ON ESPN 3
A couple of the best middleweights around the planet are set to clash at a long-awaited bout later this spring, and I will give my first thoughts on the matchup in the present MMA odds and ends.
Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa, UFC on ESPN 3
Top-ranked middleweights Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa will battle at the Primary event of UFC on ESPN 3, that is set for April 27 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The bout was initially reported by Combate. It’ll be a five-round fight, it is probably the winner of this bout could be next in line to get a crack in the UFC middleweight title now held by Robert Whittaker, who fights Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in early February. (Although we need to maintain Israel Adesanya in that dialog as well).
Romero (13-3) is 41-years older, but you would not know it. He is in amazing physical condition and is fighting at an extremely large degree. The Cuban wrestling senstation is 9-2 overall in the UFC, with wins over the likes of Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman, Ronaldo”Jacare” Souza, Lyoto Machida, Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson. Seven of the UFC victories have come by knockout, and 11 total of his wins have come by knockout. He’s just been stopped once in his entire career, by Rafael”Feijao” Cavalcante back in Strikeforce, also in the UFC he has only lost twice, both razor-thin decisions to Whittaker. In a lot of ways it’s reasonable to think about Romero the second-best middleweight in the world behind the Australian champion. But with two reductions to Whittaker, Romero is at precisely the exact same place as someone like Stephen”Wonderboy” Thompson in welterweight. Together with other contenders in the mix, Romero needs to keep busy and keep winning struggles in order to maybe receive a third name fight against the Whittaker vs. Gastelum winner.
Costa (12-0) is a perfect 4-0 at the UFC and all his career victories have come by knockout or submission, including brutal knockouts over Johny Hendricks and Uriah Hall in his last two bouts. The Brazilian was labeled the upcoming big thing by many fans and media, but so far he is still very unproven against the upper echelon of the UFC middleweight division. At just 27, he is correct in his prime and proceeds to demonstrate a better skill-set each time we see him inside the Octagon. No doubt he’s looked great against lesser opposition, and when he looks fantastic against Romero and has the win he will be in an enviable position when it comes to the middleweight title shot pecking order.
This is a great fight, and also the fact it’s set for five rounds makes it better. As far as that I prefer, I believe you need to label Romero as the favorite just based on what he’s accomplished so far from the Octagon. And of course the fact that when this fight was initially reserved for UFC 230, Romero was initially pegged as the gaming preferred ahead of the line was shot down. Costa has looked great lately, though, and he’s got a 14-year age advantage in this struggle, but until we see him really beat a top man it is difficult to say he should be preferred over any of these. Regardless of who wins the fight, this ought to be an entertaining matchup and it’s the ideal principal occasion for the Hispanic audience in Miami.
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