The Yoel Romero vs. Jacare Souza rematch will, unfortunately, have to come at a later date as Romero has pulled out of UFC Fort Lauderdale with pneumonia. The promotion has yet to find a replacement.
Ag Fight first reported the removal of Yoel Romero the UFC Fort Lauderdale main event. Combate then reported that Paulo Costa will replace him, but Jacare Souza stated that Costa “ran away.”
Romero está fora da luta e o cara que eles trouxeram para luta comigo está correndo, como sempre acontece comigo.
Romero is out and the guy the flew in is running away from me, like always happens to me.— Ronaldo Jacaré (@JacareMMA) April 4, 2019
This is the third time a scheduled bout between Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza has fallen through. Oddly enough, the first time was when Jacare actually pulled out the fight himself with pneumonia.
Yoel Romero has fought three title fights since 2017. The first and third were against current champion Robert Whittaker, losing both in classic fights. He defeated Luke Rockhold last February by knockout. However, he missed weight and was not officially crowned interim champion. The former Cuban Olympic wrestler is 9-2 in the UFC, with the only losses being the aforementioned fights against Whittaker.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that Kevin Holland is a name that is in the running to fill in for Romero. Holland is 2-1 in the Octagon and just fought to a split decision victory against Gerald Meerschaert last weekend. It was an exhausting back-and-forth grappling-centric fight.
Jacare Souza is 9-3 in the UFC with only one of his victories going to decision. He has yet to receive a title shot despite his success in the cage. Most recently, he knocked out former champion Chris Weidman in the third-round of a Fight of the Night.
UFC Fort Lauderdale does not have a main event at the moment. The event takes place in three weeks, April 27 specifically, from the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The co-main event features former NFL all-pro Greg Hardy welcoming Dmitry Smolyakov back to the promotion. Also on the card will be John Lineker vs. Cory Sandhagen, and Alex Oliveira vs. Mike Perry.
