“And now to announce our next signing, Cuban Olympian, former UFC world title challenger, Yoel ‘Soldier of God’ Romero,” roared Conor McGregor last summer as he introduced Romero into his co-owned Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Romero’s signing helped unveil McGregor’s plan for the BKFC, where he also aimed to bring in other MMA veterans like Fedor Emelianenko. Despite Romero’s presence, that vision does not seem to have panned out all too well for McGregor, as the Cuban Olympic silver medalist has now signed with BKFC’s Russian counterpart.

Yoel Romero was originally scheduled to fight at KnuckleMania 6. He had been booked to face BKFC light heavyweight champion Lorenzo Hunt in a co-main event bout at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s KnuckleMania VI on February 7, 2026, in Philadelphia. However, he ended up pulling out of the card a week ago after coming down with the flu. Though Dave Mundell was brought in to save the bout, now, according to reports, despite the flu report, Yoel Romero has somehow made his way over to a Russian combat organization, leaving Conor McGregor and the BKFC hanging.

Yoel Romero breaks ties with Conor McGregor’s BKFC after just one fight

“Here we go again. Yoel Romero signed a contract with Russian IBA bare knuckle. Not sure what BKFC thinks about that,” wrote Matysek MMA on X alongside an image of Romero signing his name on what looks like a standard contract. IBA Bare Knuckle is a newly launched international bare-knuckle promotion operating under the supervision of the International Boxing Association (IBA).

The league aims to grow and professionalize the sport while emphasizing safety and structure. So far, it has already made an impact with events in Turkey and Moscow. At 48, Romero still shows no signs of slowing down.

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These days, he stays active and motivated, chasing competition and financial opportunities across multiple combat sports avenues. While he explores new ventures, wrestling has clearly become his main focus.

The former Olympian stood out at the Real American Freestyle tournament, where he recently captured the interim light heavyweight title. Last year alone, the former UFC title challenger competed three times and continued to showcase elite-level wrestling despite nearing 50. Along the way, Romero picked up a win over Patrick Downey to claim the interim title at RAF 04, reinforcing his longevity.

However, Yoel Romero’s dream of becoming champion did not come true.

Romero falls short in bid to become RAF champion

After defeating Patrick Downey, Yoel Romero stunned fans with a backflip, showing off his remarkable athleticism. This set up his highly anticipated unification bout against the younger UFC middleweight and RAF light heavyweight champion Bo Nickal, a long-awaited matchup between the NCAA standout and the wrestling legend.

The fight originally occurred on December 20 at RAF 04, but Nickal withdrew, and the two were finally slated to meet on January 10, 2026. However, Yoel Romero’s momentum hit a roadblock at RAF 05 when he missed weight ahead of the planned title unification fight with Nickal. As a result, Nickal pulled out, and the promotion stripped the Cuban of the interim title. Romero then went on to face Stephen Buchanan, against whom he lost.

“This is not all fun and games. It’s not a charity match, it’s a professional sporting event, so I came in professional, and unfortunately, he didn’t,” Nickal told Ariel Helwani after facing criticism for not agreeing to fight the overweight Yoel Romero.

For now, Real American Freestyle has not confirmed Yoel Romero’s next fight. It remains to be seen if they even will. Stay tuned.