Midnight Mania: Romero Reveals Brutal KO Left Machida Comatose

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Yoel Romero is a special fighter.

At 47 years of age, “Soldier of God” is no longer in his prime, even if he’s still a dangerous knockout artist. In his heyday, however, few could claim to move as suddenly as the Cuban Olympian. Romero would be smoothly sliding around the Octagon, biding his time and then all of a sudden, his opponent was crumpled in a heap. Though he never won the title, he came close on more than one occasion and developed a fearsome reputation in the process.

In short, Romero was a scary proposition for years and still is to some extent. In a recent appearance on Mike Perry’s OverDogs Podcast, Romero revealed that one of his iconic knockouts over Lyoto Machida resulted in serious damage to “The Dragon.”

“Lyoto was too worn out,” Romero began. “Let’s put it this way, after he fought me, he wasn’t the same. He suffered brutal damage. You know he was in a coma, right? He was in a coma, I was worried about him. I kept talking to his managers because he was in a coma. That’s why I respect any gladiator that does this, because your life is at risk bro.”

Currently, the exact details and length of Machida’s “coma” are unknown, but it’s understandable why the former champion would want to keep that information under wraps. After the Romero loss, Machida would compete nine more times as a professional, winning four of those bouts. He retired from MMA in 2022 after a knockout loss to Fabian Edwards in Bellator.

As for Romero, he’s still competing. He most recently scored a knockout win in the Dirty Boxing promotion and is currently a member of the Global Fight League roster.

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Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

This news first appeared on MMA Mania. Read the original article.