Yoel Romero hobbled out of Octagon on Saturday night following a third round knockout over Luke Rockhold in the UFC 221 main event.
Following his victory, Romero actually sat down on the canvas to do his post fight interview with Jon Anik before coaches and trainers helped the former Olympic silver gold medalist get to the back while clearly limping on one leg.
After the event was over, Romero revealed that he believes he suffered a broken leg thanks to a pair of kicks he checked from Rockhold in the opening round on Saturday night.
“Yes in the first round I think I took two kicks and I’m pretty sure that I broke my leg,” Romero said when speaking to FS1.
Romero was then taken to a local hospital in Perth, Australia where he was checked out by doctors and received some good news.
It turns out Romero didn’t suffer a broken leg as first suspected but instead a deep shin bruise as a result of blocking those kicks from Rockhold.
Romero’s manager Abe Kawa gave a brief update on Twitter on late Saturday night with additional sources confirming the No. 1 ranked contender’s diagnosis as well.
With @YoelRomeroMMA in the hospital. Leg is fine people couple weeks and he will be good to go
— Ibrahim Kawa (@Abraham_kawa) February 11, 2018
That’s all good news for Romero as he is expected to move forward to face middleweight champion Robert Whittaker later this year with the title on the line.
While there was some question about whether or not Romero would still get the title shot after he failed to make weight at UFC 221, it appears the promotion will move forward with him as the No. 1 contender to face Whittaker once he’s healthy.
Romero lost to Whittaker last July in a five round battle to determine the interim middleweight champion at the time. Whittaker was eventually bumped up to undisputed champion after Georges St-Pierre surrendered his title last December.
Now it’s just a matter of time it seems before Romero gets a second shot at Whittaker with UFC gold on the line.
What are your thoughts on the potential rematch between Yoel Romero and UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker? Sound off in the comments below
