Yoel Romero was believed to be on his way to challenging for the UFC middleweight title before a drug test came back with concern from the USADA.

While Romero continues to fight to clean his name, current champion Luke Rockhold isn’t sure he’ll ever be able to view the former Olympic wrestler in the same light.

“We all have our suspensions and what’s what,” Rockhold said (thanks to MMAjunkie.com for the quotes). “But Yoel is just…the guy doesn’t do himself any favors. Any fight he has he goes out there and doesn’t perform, and then he shoots himself in the foot on the mic. This is a business.

“I’m not going to waste my time in my life to fight someone for pennies. Go out there and earn it. Make the people want it. I would love to shut you down. Then he gets tested for something. It’s laughable at this point.

“Who knows if he’s clean or not, if it’s a tainted supplement. We all know the truth. Come back because I’ll beat that ass, too.”


Rockhold is set to defend his title later this year at UFC 199 vs. former champion Chris Weidman.