Former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero has his first assignment under the BKFC banner set.<\/p>\n
Romero has been doing the fighting rounds since exiting the UFC in 2020. He first took his talents to Bellator before trying his hand at Mike Perry\u2019s new Dirty Boxing sport after a sole outing in the PFL.<\/p>\n
The next step in the Cuban\u2019s combat sports journey is bare-knuckle boxing, a potentially frightening prospect for the promotion\u2019s big men given the power \u2018Soldier of God\u2019 possesses.<\/p>\n
And the BKFC roster has evidently been wary of his arrival, with founder David Feldman revealing several fighters turned down the Romero fight<\/a> upon confirmation of his signing earlier in the summer.<\/p>\n Now, though, someone has signed on the dotted line.<\/p>\n Yoel Romero vs Theo Doukas announced for BKFC 80<\/p>\n The official social channels of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship<\/a> revealed Romero\u2019s debut opponent Tuesday. While the date was announced as September 12 soon after part-owner Conor McGregor announced the signing of Romero<\/a>, the 48-year-old now has a face to target.<\/p>\n At BKFC 80, set to take place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Romero<\/a> will throw down with a fellow newcomer to the organization in heavyweight fighter Theo Doukas.<\/p>\n While Romero boasts extensive experience in a variety of combat sports, Doukas has just four professional bouts on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9, per Tapology<\/a>. All of them came in MMA, with the American winning twice.<\/p>\n Doukas previously accumulated a losing record as an amateur, emerging victorious from three of his seven bouts before turning pro in 2022.<\/p>\n BKFC 80 is set to be headlined by Leonardo Perdomo\u2019s heavyweight rematch against Arnold Adams.<\/p>\n Yoel Romero\u2019s BKFC opponent started camp at 250 pounds<\/p>\n Romero challenged Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title<\/a> in what marked his final UFC fight in 2020. In addition to exiting MMA\u2019s leading promotion, \u2018Soldier of God\u2019 also bid farewell to 185 pounds.<\/p>\n The Cuban powerhouse has not returned to the weight he exclusively fought at in the UFC. He most recently tipped the scales 40 pounds heavier ahead of Dirty Boxing 1, where Romero knocked out Ras Hylton this past March<\/a>.<\/p>\n After beating that 256-pound giant, Romero has another sizable opponent to deal with in Doukas, who started camp at just shy of 250 pounds.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking hard for my BKFC debut Sept 12th,\u201d Doukas wrote on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cAlready down from 248lbs to 226 today after practice.<\/p>\n \u201cWalking around 11lbs above my fight weight and I couldn\u2019t be happier where I\u2019m at right now. Lose a few more pounds of body fat over the next 8 weeks and my water cut will be a cake walk.<\/p>\n \u201cThis entire camp will be heavy cardio and pure technique. I will be in the best shape of my life, y\u2019all (haven\u2019t) seen nothing yet,\u201d he concluded<\/p>\n