After several failed attempts at capturing 185-pound gold, as well as struggles to make weight, Yoel Romero initially considered moving up to light heavyweight. However, those plans seem to have changed in recent weeks. Romero agreed to fight up-and-coming middleweight contender Paulo Costa at UFC 230. Unfortunately, the fight fell through for the New York card.

It was later planned for the UFC’s ESPN+ card in January. However, an injury to Costa then hindered those plans. Now, Romero has remained adamant on staying on the card, and he already has an opponent in mind. Romero has said that he’d like to fight former UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

Recently, “The Soldier Of God” joined “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” to discuss his callout of Silva. Here’s what he had to say:

“I want to fight with him,” Romero said. “It’s not personal, between me and Anderson, it’s for me, because Anderson is the best of all time in MMA. I have big respect for him.

“If you stay in the middleweight division and you don’t fight with the top 10 people, you won’t understand what exactly is your level. If you really want to know what is your level, you have to fight with Anderson Silva.”