Yoel Romero waxes philosophical on Conor McGregor, breaks down Robert Whittaker rematch

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – There have been plenty of people admonishing Conor McGregor’s behavior after the infamous events after a UFC 223 media day at Barclays Center on Thursday, but middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero is taking a different route.

Romero (13-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC), who returns to the octagon on June 9 for a UFC 225 rematch with middleweight champ Robert Whittaker (19-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC), was asked to share his thoughts on the infamous bus attack that ended with three scrapped UFC 223 bouts and multiple charges for McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) .

A fashionable Romero, who talked to media at Barclays Center during Saturday’s card, started his answer solemnly.

“You want my opinion, right?” Romero asked.

“It’s my opinion,” Romero added, before continuing. “I am a man for God. I’m thinking the same – or I am trying (to think) the same with God. I say we need, together, to work and help another people. Now, it’s the situation with Conor. Why like this? (Stomping motion).

“Why? Take the hand. The most important is that Conor not do something like this again. We need the world – not only for the athletes, all the world, when we work like this, together, the world is better. That’s my opinion.”

In any case, Romero has his own (thankfully in-cage battles) to worry about. After recovering from the UFC 213 loss that earned Whittaker the later-upgraded interim title with a knockout over Luke Rockhold, Romero will have a new chance at middleweight glory in June.

Whittaker, in turn, hasn’t fought since the unanimous-deicision win over Romero last July. His time away has been plagued with a variety of physical and health issues, from a pulled hamstring to the chickenpox, with a touch of staph infection in between.

It’s certainly not a pleasant set of circumstances for the 27-year-old champion, but Romero, on his end, is not expecting his opponent’s layoff to work on his favor when the cage door closes at United Center in Chicago.

“It’s no problem for him,” Romero said. “He can fight very well with me again.”

As for what will make the rematch take a different turn than their original encounter? Romero got referential there, asking the reporter his age before offering an example.

“I think you’ve seen the rematch with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, right?” Romero said. “It’s an amazing fight, no? This is the same. Believe me, it’s the same. That’s what I said yesterday: I’m training hard because I need to make this change in history. That’s it.”

To hear more from  Romero, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 225, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.