Yoel Romero

In MMA, there is an inordinate amount of untapped depth and consistently changing dynamics to fighter processes. Anyone can understand that, by mixing the ...

That is to say, Romero almost seems to be the antithesis to a typical MMA metagame fighter in that he identifies what his opponents really are at their core and fights them in a way he sees fit. In the rematch, he strategically prepared by fighting in the closed stance matchup and forcing Whittaker to get closer to hit him with various guards. If anything, Romero’s lack of depth on the feet was what led to his defeat. Romero’s entire gameplan really should never have worked, and yet, in the hands a fighter who employed such a minimalist strategy to counteract the scouted tendencies of his opponent, it succeeded in allowing him to win the early portions of the fight. In other words, does Romero decide to do things because, in his mind, it means he has to worry about less in exchange for what he considers important? The fighter in question needs to be aware of their own attributes, study and allocate to what their opponent offers, and be able to manage time in some manner. And whenever Adesanya did commit to a telegraphed, throwaway or blitzing entry, this was the trigger for Romero to teach him that close range wasn’t necessarily an easier range. To say Romero is explosive or random for the sake of it would be doing him a disservice; no one fights like Romero at the top level of MMA without having an implicit understanding of strategy or tactics, freak athlete or no. Personally, I’d like to think that this is as good a start as any for answering “why” Romero fights the way he did. We have to start at the first question - and that means delving into Romero’s wrestling career as a comparative. Going back to the main idea here, you can find a plethora of processes across the sport itself, inspired by the fighter’s background, temperament, conditioning, and so on. A fighter who likes to limit his or her opponent’s space and initiative whilst coming forward is referred to a pressure fighter; a relentless whirlwind of violence that does not relent even if it means taking one until their opponent relents is a swarmer; someone who employs outside, lateral movements and misdirections is an outfighter.