Dana White now willing to book Adesanya vs. Romero
UFC president Dana White has had a change of heart in regards to the back and forth between middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and perennial top contender (and Cuban sugar water proponent) Yoel "Soldier of God" Romero. White had previously (and by previously, we mean just days ago) stated that Romero would need to fight a title eliminator bout before getting a crack at the Stylebender, but the UFC president has now told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that he is trying to book the fight.
"He wants Romero and I respect that," said White, according to a recent tweet by Jed I. Goodman.
Adesanya and Romero have been going at it on social media for weeks now, during which we were blessed with yet another of Romero's patented video call-outs:
Yoel lost a unanimous decision to Paulo Costa in August in what was intended to be a title eliminator. However, Costa is currently shelved with injuries, leaving the UFC and Adesanya with a difficult choice. With Costa out, Adesanya vs. Romero is certainly the most interesting matchup at middleweight. But the Cuban star has lost two straight fights, and three of his last four (although his last two were controversial decisions).
As an advocate of Yoel Romero in a general and all-encompassing sense, this fan is all for it, even if Jared Cannonier makes more sense in terms of what is "fair." The most surgical striker in the sport facing off against the Cuban Missile? If you don't like that, you don't like MMA.