Yoel Romero earned a shot at UFC Middleweight champion Michael Bisping with a brutal knockout of Chris Weidman at UFC 205 in New York’s Madison Square Garden. The KO came via flying knee in the final round of their back and forth fight, and Romero immediately called out Bisping in his post-fight interview.
The knee split open a cut on Weidman’s head, but wasn’t enough to warrant an immediate stoppage from referee Mario Yamasaki. He let Romero land a couple of unnecessary shots before waving off the action, and Weidman lay on the mat for a while getting his bearings and climbing to his feet. Yamasaki also ignored an eye poke in the second round, forcing Romero back into action without the requisite time off to recover, despite replays showing a clear, albeit accidental, poke directly in the eye.
It didn’t matter for Romero in the end, and the third round began, ironically enough, wth Yoel as the fresher man and Weidman breathing heavily just moments before the knee ended the fight. Romero’s gas tank has been questioned throughout his career, but he had more than enough in the tank tonight.
Romero is now 8-0 in the UFC, and has earned his first ever title shot and in spectacular fashion, impressing even the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier in the process.
There is no athlete better in the entire @Ufc than @YoelRomeroMMA
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) November 13, 2016