5 Times Yoel Romero stunned UFC fans with his explosive abilities inside the Octagon

#4 Finishing Weidman in his backyard

An incredible flying knee saw Romero finish Chris Weidman in his backyard

The UFC broke into New York in 2016, and their first show in the state – UFC 205 – was a big one featuring 3 title fights. In the second fight on the main card though, former Middleweight champion Chris Weidman – a native of Long Island – was booked against Romero, with the winner looking set to fight for the title in their next bout.

This was the first time that Romero was faced with a fellow top-class wrestler, and in the first round, ‘The All-American’ surprised the Cuban by backing him up and even taking him down at one point. The second round saw some more early success for Weidman, but by the midway point, Romero had begun to turn the tide – and hit an unbelievable foot-sweep takedown to turn the tables, planting the former champion on his back to win the round.

That meant the fight was balanced on a knife-edge going into the third – but Romero didn’t waste any time allowing it to go to the judges. Instead, he came flying out of the blocks with a flying knee, knocking Weidman silly and opening him up like a faucet, with blood leaking out of a massive cut on his head. ‘Soldier of God’ had hardly endeared himself to the New York crowd with the knockout, but he’d made himself the top contender to the title – even if he wouldn’t end up facing the champion in his next fight.