Yoel Romero accepted a fight with Jake Paul - but claims the YouTuber instead opted for an "easier" opponent in Ben Askren.
The former UFC middleweight title contender had just left the promotion to pursue other opportunities towards the end of 2020, while Paul was looking to build on his viral knockout win over Nate Robinson by taking on a legitimate fighter. He had seemed to be heading towards a fight with Conor McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis, but the New Yorker was unable to commit due to injury.
And Romero claims that he was also spoken to about the fight, telling his team to get the emphatic message across to Paul's that he was willing and able to take on the challenge. Having left the strict exclusivity of the UFC's contract, he was free to pursue other options, and even his eventual signing with Bellator wouldn't have necessarily locked him into solely MMA fights.
"When I was exiting my UFC contract, his managers contacted my managers and they were going back-and-forth for a little while," Romero told Mirror Fighting ahead of his fight against Melvin Manhoef at Bellator Dublin tonight. "Our managers told them that the table is there and we're ready to go but eventually they took a few days and they said, 'You know what, I think we're going to look elsewhere'."
Ultimately, Paul ended up facing Askren; a renowned Olympic wrestler and former world champion at welterweight who had retired over a year prior and was infamous for his lack of striking ability. Romero, on the other hand, is an Olympic gold medalist wrestler, but is known in MMA for his ferocious power and brutal knockouts of ex-world champions like Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman.
"He was looking for an easier fight," Romero theorised. "Everybody knows that without taking away any respect from Ben Askren, who I have a lot of respect for, Ben's not much of a stand-up fighter. He doesn't use his hands very much, he's a grappler and I think they were looking for somebody like that."
Who do you think would have won if Jake Paul fought Yoel Romero back in early 2021? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
And while the Cuban appears to be on track for a world title push in Bellator at either middleweight or light-heavyweight, he is not yet closing the door on a potential boxing move. His family were all boxers, but he says that his father forbade him from competing in the sport, and he would eventually go on to become a wrestler and MMA fighter.
Asked if he wants to pursue boxing, he replied: "I think so, more so because I want to show my dad that I could have boxed, he wouldn't let me box. The majority of my family, the entire family are a boxing family but my dad wouldn't let me box. I think it would be spectacular to finish my career doing maybe one or two boxing matches."
Could Jake Paul be an opponent then? "Maybe," he chuckled. "If he wants to finish out the rest of his life fine, then sure."
