Yoel Romero hasn’t passed the pre-fight medical testing. As a result, his scheduled for May 7 Bellator MMA debut against Anthony Johnson has been cancelled. A replacement opponent to face the latter in the quarterfinal of light heavyweight World Grand Prix at Bellator 258 has been named – Jose Augusto.
Romero (13-5) last fought in March 2020 when he dropped a unanimous decision against the reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. The outcome was his third defeat in a row, which concluded his run inside the Octagon.
Augusto (7-2) is riding the five-win streak. He was last in action early April when he submitted Jonathan Wilson in the first round.
Bellator 258: Archuleta vs Pettis airs live on Showtime on Friday, May 7. The start time is scheduled for 9 pm ET / 6pm PT. In the main event bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta defends his title against Sergio Pettis.
Among other bouts featured on the card, Michael “Venom” Page goes up against Derek Anderson, and Patricky “Pitbull” and Peter Queally square off at lightweight. Additional fights for the main card are to be announced.
“Romero will become eligible to reapply for clearance to compete in the coming months,” reads the announcement. “We look forward to seeing him make his Bellator debut in the near future. “Bellator MMA will look to reschedule the highly anticipated Johnson versus Romero matchup at a future date.”
The current Bellator 258 fight card can be found below.
Bellator 258 fight card
Main Card
- Juan Archuleta vs. Sergio Pettis
- Anthony Johnson vs. Jose Augusto
- Patricky Freire vs. Peter Queally
- Michael Page vs. Derek Anderson
Preliminary card
- Josh Hill vs. Raufeon Stots
- Weber Almeida vs. Johnny Soto
- Logan Storley vs. Omar Hussein
- Johnny Eblen vs. Daniel Madrid
- Henry Corrales vs. Johnny Campbell
- Erik Perez vs. Blaine Shutt
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