Yoel Romero’s Manager Announces Planned Lawsuit Against Illinois State Athletic Commission

Yoel Romero might have been able to make championship weight for UFC 225 this past weekend (Sat. June 9, 2018) had it not been for the interference of the Illinois State Athletic Commission (ISAC).

Initially Romero was scheduled to challenge UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker for the division’s title. The Cuban weighed in one pound overweight at 186, however, and was given two extra hours to cut the final pound.

45 minutes into the second attempt, however, ISAC director Nancy Illg forced Romero and his team to stop the weight cut. She called the decision an “administrative call” and didn’t feel comfortable making Romero dehydrate himself any further.

When Romero weighed in the second time around, he was still overweight but just .2 pounds. As a result the fight continued as a five round non-title fight. Romero lost via split decision after a tremendous back-and-forth affair.

Because Romero missed weight he forfeited his $50,000 Fight Of The Night bonus to Whittaker.

Both of Romero’s agents, Malki and Abe Kawa, joined The MMA Hour yesterday (Mon. June 11, 2018) to discuss the matter. Malki revealed that he and Romero are preparing a lawsuit against the ISAC (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“We’re gonna sue them,” Kawa said. “I’m gonna send the paperwork soon. It’s going out probably this week.”

Abe Kawa revealed that once he found out early Friday morning (before weigh-ins) that Romero would be granted an extra two hours if his initial attempt was within three pounds of championship weight – the plan all along was to utilize those extra two hours:

“The whole plan was to use those two hours,” Abe Kawa said. “So everything we did from that point going forward in the weight cut was to use those extra two hours slotted to us.”