Yoel Romero (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler[4] who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division.

After landing a three-point throw against Adam Saitiev to take a 3–2 lead, Romero was penalized a point for passivity with 20 seconds remaining.

While competing in freestyle wrestling, Romero has defeated three Olympic gold medal winners, and five different world champions.

Other notable achievements include a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games, a quadrennial competition held the year before the Olympics, as well as multiple medal-winning finishes at the FILA Wrestling World Cup.

Romero competed infrequently after 2005: he was suspended for all of 2006 by the Cuban Wrestling Federation for allegedly throwing his match against Mindorashvili at the 2005 World Championships.

Romero competed as a starting member of SV Johannis Nuremberg, as well as helping coach and train the team.

[14] After defecting to Germany in 2007,[15] Romero made his professional mixed martial arts debut in December 2009.

[29] After trailing for two rounds, Romero won the fight in the third via TKO due to punches and elbows to Brunson's body.

[32] He won the fight via TKO in the third round, giving Kennedy his first stoppage loss in thirteen years.

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan mistakenly blamed this on Romero's cornermen for failing to leave the Octagon on time, when the blame was actually on a UFC Cutman who applied too much Vaseline to a cut and referee John McCarthy for allowing Romero to stay sitting while trying to get the cutman to return to the octagon to wipe the excess off.

[39] Romero faced former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida on June 27, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 70.

[42] The bout with Ronaldo Souza was scheduled for a third time, eventually taking place on December 12, 2015, at UFC 194.

[52] However, on January 13, 2018, it was reported that Whittaker had pulled out of his bout against Luke Rockhold, which was scheduled to take place at UFC 221, due to an undisclosed injury.

Romero was given additional time to make weight but was pulled by the commission, weighing in at 185.2 lbs, 0.2 pounds over.

[60] Romero was scheduled to face Ronaldo Souza on April 27, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 150.

[61] However, it was reported that Romero pulled out of the bout in early in April 2019 due to illness and was replaced by Jack Hermansson.

[72] On December 14, 2020, it was announced that Romero had agreed to a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA and was expected to compete in its light heavyweight division beginning in 2021.

[73] On February 9, 2021, it was announced that Romero would be participating in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament.

[75] On April 29, it was announced that Yoel had failed his medicals due to an eye issue and the bout was pulled from the card, and the Grand Prix Tournament, being replaced by Jose Augusto.

[79] However, Manhoef withdrew from the bout due to a hand injury while stopping burglars and was replaced by Alex Polizzi.

[91] Romero competed against future UFC Heavyweight fighter Chris Barnett in a submission grappling match hosted by Dean Toole Promotions on June 15, 2019.

Despite giving up a weight advantage to his opponent, Romero outwrestled Barnett before taking top position and submitting him with a kimura at 3:50 of the match.

[94] Romero competed in Mike Perry's "Dirty Boxing Championship" against Power Slap athlete Duane Crespo on November 23, 2024.

His team and USADA discussed a deal for a nine-month suspension for the fighter, but Romero preferred to go to arbitration.

USADA revealed that Romero had tested positive for ibutamoren, a growth hormone release stimulator.

An unopened version of the supplement was independently tested and the banned substance did indeed come up, even though it was not listed on the label.

[106] However, in mid-2021 it was reported that New Jersey Superior Court reduced the damage awards for lost wages and emotional stress to total of $12.45 million.

[123] His younger brother, Yoan Pablo Hernández, was the IBF Cruiserweight Champion in professional boxing.

[125] In a controversial post-fight interview after his victory over Lyoto Machida at UFC Fight Night 70, it was assumed by many that Romero was expressing disagreement with the Obergefell v. Hodges supreme court ruling.

However, during the post fight press conference and subsequent interviews the following day, Romero denied referring to gay marriage and apologized for his comments while maintaining that they were misunderstood.