Promotional veteran Yoel Romero claims he holds the key to beating UFC 303 main event contender Alex Pereira at light heavyweight, suggesting a mixed grappling strategy is a surefire way to beat the Brazilian.
Romero, who challenged for middleweight titles multiple times during his time with Dana White's organization, moved to Bellator MMA after his UFC contract expired and has fought five times since then.
Cuban veteran Romero, who had been out since a PFL-Bellator bout in February, was coming off a failed title challenge against Vadim Nemkov before winning a unanimous decision over another former UFC title challenger, Thiago Santos.
Meanwhile, former middleweight champion and current light heavyweight champion Pereira is scheduled to face Jiri Prochazka in a title rematch at UFC 303 next weekend.
Yoel Romero previews upcoming bout with Alex Pereira
Sao Paulo knockout ace Pereira has never stumbled inside the Octagon, losing his only bout to Israel Adesanya by second-round knockout last April, but Olympic wrestling medallist Romero says he can be defeated by mixing up his fighting strategy.
“A lot of people are saying that if I were to fight the big UFC 205-pound champion (Alex) Pereira, he's got a lot of experience,” Yoel Romero said on the Overdogs podcast.[He] I'm a natural striker, so it would be an honour to play against players of that calibre. [like him]He, like me, is a man born of a woman.”
“If you believe, everything is possible. He has both hands, I have both hands, everything can happen,” Romero continued. “The strategy to beat Alex is to have a well-mixed fight, it's not just wrestling and wrestling. [continuously]can't hit and hit [continously]. “
Would we have liked to see Yoel Romero and Alex Pereira in their prime?
