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Bellator has released an official poster for the highly-awaited light heavyweight fight between feared KO artists Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson.
The tweet embedded below, put forth via Bellator MMA president Scott Coker's Twitter account, features a poster for the upcoming clash between the two former UFC fighters.
Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson are set to make their promotional debuts for the Bellator MMA organization in May 2021. Both hard-hitting fan-favorite fighters last competed in MMA bouts inside the UFC’s famed octagon. Romero hasn’t fought in a professional MMA bout since March 2020, whereas Johnson’s last MMA bout transpired back in April 2017.
Referred to by fans worldwide as Rumble, popular KO artist Anthony Johnson retired from the sport of MMA in April 2017. In the ensuing years, the MMA community has been rife with rumors of Johnson potentially returning to the sport. The UFC veteran is now finally set to make his comeback, albeit not in the UFC octagon where fans last saw him but in the Bellator MMA cage.
Yoel Romero vs. Anthony Johnson is the fourth and last Bellator light heavyweight world Grand Prix quarterfinal matchup. Other fighters in the Grand Prix include the division’s reigning champion Vadim Nemkov, Phil Davis, Ryan Bader, Lyoto Machida, Corey Anderson and Dovletzhan Yagshimuradov.
The winners of the three quarterfinal matchups that have already taken place are Vadim Nemkov, Ryan Bader, and Corey Anderson. One of the two semi-final matchups at the Grand Prix will feature Bader fighting Anderson. The winner of this fight will advance to the Grand Prix’s final matchup.
Meanwhile, the winner of the quarterfinal fight between Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson will face Vadim Nemkov in the Grand Prix’s other semi-final matchup. The Romero/Johnson vs. Nemkov winner will then fight the Bader vs. Anderson winner in the final matchup. The winner of the tournament will hold the coveted Bellator light heavyweight title.
Yoel Romero is moving back to the light heavyweight division after parting ways with the UFC
An Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling, Yoel Romero is regarded as one of the best athletes to ever compete in the sport of MMA. The Soldier of God started his MMA career as a light heavyweight.
Yoel Romero subsequently signed with the UFC and competed in the UFC middleweight division. Romero’s most recent fight was a unanimous decision loss against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 (March 2020). Following his departure from the UFC, Romero signed with Bellator MMA and will be moving back to the light heavyweight division in the latter organization.
On the other hand, Anthony Johnson’s last fight was a second-round submission loss against Daniel Cormier at UFC 210 (April 2017).
The Yoel Romero vs. Anthony Johnson matchup is scheduled to serve as the co-headlining fight for Bellator 258. The event will take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on May 7th, 2021.
