Dana White Bashes Yoel Romero, Says He ‘Looked Terrible’ In UFC 248 Headliner

UFC president Dana White was not impressed with Yoel Romero’s performance.

Romero challenged Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 248 on Saturday night. It may have been the Cuban’s last chance at a title shot — at least at middleweight — but he certainly didn’t perform like it.

Though he did land a few big strikes, Romero did very little throughout the five rounds. Adesanya didn’t throw much volume either, but was mostly in control of the action and landed the more significant damage as he continually hacked at Romero’s legs.

In the end, it was still a very underwhelming battle as the crowd were booing and the referee even had to tell them to put up more of a fight just before a round.

And White doesn’t expect Romero to get another shot at the title anytime soon:

“You’re going in and facing the world champion,” White said of Romero at the post-fight press conference. “This is your last shot at a championship. You shouldn’t even be here getting this title fight. It should be Paulo Costa. If he didn’t get hurt, you don’t even get this opportunity. You go in and you do everything you can to win that fight. He literally did none of that.

“… A path back to the title after that performance? He looked terrible tonight. He literally gave up an opportunity. Maybe he comes back in his next fight and looks like Yoel Romero. But if he doesn’t, I wouldn’t expect him to fight another 10 years looking like that.”

Somewhat harsh words from White, especially as some observers felt Romero could have edged it despite the lackluster display.

What did you think of the fight and Romero’s performance?