"Why didn’t he do this against Izzy" - Fans react as clip of Yoel Romero and Chris Barnett facing off in submission grappling match resurfaces

Yoel Romero once had a grappling match with Chris Barnett, and the internet is still talking about it.

Yoel Romero vs. Chris Barnett transpired in June 2019 under the Dean Toole Promotions banner, with the former finishing the latter via kimura at 3:50 of round one.

An X account called @CapybaraAnalyst shared footage looking back at the grappling contest from a few years ago, and several users on the platform were clamoring to have their say on it.

@DownBadThoughts said:

"Why didn’t he do this against Izzy"

@KennyCrowe15 stated:

"Bro the difference in physique between the two is hilarious 😂 Love them both though, can't wait to see Barnett's next fight, even though it's in the Apex 🫠"

@codys_stutter quipped:

"Damn Barnetts big asf😭"

@FunFactForYah said:

"Yoel is just out here being built different holy cow"

@cornwall469 stated:

"King vs king"

@C_mclovin12 quipped:

"Wish Yoel used his wrestling more"

[Images Courtesy: @CapybaraAnalyst on X]

Check out a clip of the Romero vs. Barnett grappling contest below:

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Yoel Romero and his next mixed martial arts fight

Yoel Romero looks to bounce back into the win column after falling short last June against Vadim Nemkov. After this bid for the Bellator light heavyweight title fell short, Romero will next step into the cage under the PFL banner to fight Thiago Santos.

The 46-year-old fights on Feb. 24 as part of the massive PFL vs. Bellator card going down in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh season continues with this cross-promotional combat sports event featuring several champ vs. champ bouts.

In one of the feature fights of the card, the Cuba native will take on the former UFC light heavyweight title contender here as Romero vs. Santos sees both men aiming to secure their first win in the Professional Fighters League.

Romero is a former Olympic wrestler who cut his teeth on the German and Poland MMA circuits before segueing into Strikeforce and UFC competition within his first six professional mixed martial arts bouts.

'Soldier of God' would carve out a path that saw him contend for lineal and interim gold in the UFC before then going on to have a 2-2 record in his four-fight run with Bellator MMA.

Romero has scored significant MMA wins over Melvin Manhoef, Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman, Ronaldo Souza, Lyoto Machida, Tim Kennedy, and Derek Brunson, to name a few.