Yoel Romero would love to fight Gegard Mousasi – but only if it's for Bellator middleweight title

Yoel Romero likes the idea of fighting Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi in Mousasi’s weight class.

Romero (13-6 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), who moved up to light heavyweight when he signed with Bellator, has reciprocated Mousasi’s interest in a fight but is more concerned with becoming champion.

Both Mousasi (49-7-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) and Bellator president Scott Coker expressed interest in that fight, and Romero is happy to oblige.

“Mousasi is a great fight,” Romero said through an interpreter at a virtual Bellator 280 news conference Wednesday. “Every MMA fan wants to see us fight due to the trajectory in our careers. At this moment, at 205, it doesn’t interest me very much. I would love to face him at 185.”

Romero fell short multiple times in his quest of winning UFC gold, which is why he would want a fight with Mousasi to be for the title.

“It has nothing to do with anything personal against Mousasi. It has everything to do with what he has,” Romero said. “If he jumps to 205, he’s not gonna have what I desire, so it’s in the interest of all the fans and myself. So I believe the fight would be better for 185.”

Romero will look to notch his first promotional win when he faces Alex Polizzi (10-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) in Friday’s Bellator 280 co-main event at Accor Arena in Paris.

He aims to rebound from his debut loss to Phil Davis last September at Bellator 266, where he voiced frustration because he thought the fight was a five-round main event, not three.

“The fight with Phil Davis left a bad taste in my mouth,” Romero said. “Even though I was well prepared for that fight, I wasn’t able to show it due to the confusion of the rounds of the fight. But this is not the case.”

He continued, “Because when you know you could have given more than what you gave due to the confusion of strategy, that just leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but now we know what it is, and it is what it is, and we’re ready.”