Yoel Romero Out of Fight With Anthony Johnson
One of the biggest fights Bellator has ever scheduled has been canceled. The Light Heavyweight Grand Prix matchup between Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero at Bellator 258 has been cancelled due to Romero not being cleared to compete during a medical screening.
Bellator released the statement below on the circumstances behind Romero not being able to compete:
“Yoel Romero did not clear pre-fight medical testing and as a result, his Bellator MMA debut against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has been postponed. Bellator will confirm a tournament alternate to face “Rumble” Johnson in the Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix as soon as possible.
Bellator 258: Archuleta vs. Pettis will go on as scheduled on Friday, May 7, live on SHOWTIME at 9p ET/6p PT. The event features the Bellator Bantamweight World Championship main event between champion Juan Archuleta and Sergio Pettis, a welterweight bout pitting Michael “Venom” Page against Derek Anderson, and a lightweight tilt between Patricky “Pitbull” and Peter Queally. Additional fights for the main card are to be announced.
Romero will become eligible to reapply for clearance to compete in the coming months, and we look forward to seeing him make his Bellator debut in the near future. Bellator MMA will look to reschedule the highly anticipated Johnson versus Romero matchup at a future date.”
Bellator says that an alternate will be found to face Rumble Johnson, but it is unlikely that they will be able to do so by the time the Bellator 258 card takes place. The exact reasons why Romero didn’t receive medical clearance are currently unknown.
This fight was suppose to be each of the men’s Bellator debut and would have been their first fights since competing in the UFC. Johnson, who will have to fight someone different now, last competed back in 2017 against Daniel Cormier. Romero’s last fight was against current UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya back in March of 2020. Coincidentally, in both of their last fights they were contenders for UFC gold.
Hopefully, Romero gets healthy quickly and we get the chance to see these men square off in the future.
