Former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero will officially continue his post-MMA combat sports career when he debuts for the BKFC later this year.
The Strikeforce, PFL, Bellator, and UFC veteran has showed no signs of slowing down even after he turned 48 years old back in April, and BKFC has officially announced that Romero will face Theo Doukas at BKFC 80 on September 12.
Doukas will also be making his promotional debut when he meets the former UFC star at BKFC 80, which will take place at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL.
A silver medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Cuba’s Romero made his MMA debut in 2009 and went 4-0 before losing his Strikeforce debut against Rafael Cavalcante in 2011.
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“Soldier of God” joined the UFC when the promotion purchased Strikeforce and scored a first-round knockout in his debut against Clifford Starks in 2013, which kicked off a nine-fight win streak that set up a failed interim middleweight title bid opposite Robert Whittaker at UFC 213.
Israel Adesanya (red gloves) fights Yoel Romero (blue gloves) during UFC 248 at T-Mobile Arena. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Romero rebounded from his first UFC loss by knocking out former UFC titleholder Luke Rockhold but dropped a split decision in his rematch with Whittaker, and he unfortunately missed weight for both of those outings. The Olympian went on to drop his next bout to Paulo Costa before closing out his UFC career with a third-straight loss when he challenged Israel Adesanya for the middleweight belt at UFC 248.
After exiting the UFC, Romero competed under the Bellator MMA banner as a light heavyweight and challenged Vadim Nemkov for the promotion’s 205 lbs. title in 2023.
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The 48-year-old defeated fellow UFC veteran and former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos at PFL vs. Bellator last year before making the jump to Mike Perry’s Dirty Boxing, where Romero went 2-0 as a heavyweight with a pair of finishes against Duane Crespo and Ras Hylton.
YOEL ROMERO MAKES HIS BKFC DEBUT SEPTEMBER 12th AGAINST THEO DOUKAS!#BKFC80 | Sept 12 | Tix on sale at https://t.co/LJX5urGSHu pic.twitter.com/zzUpwCEejh
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) August 5, 2025
“Soldier of God” looks to be fully committed to the heavyweight division at this stage of his combat sports journey, and he’ll welcome Doukas to the weight class at BKFC 80 after the American went 2-2 during his own professional MMA career.
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