Santos vs Romero

Who won Santos vs Romero?

Yoel Romero beat Thiago Santos by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of PFL vs. Bellator, on Saturday 24th February 2024 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Yoel Romero.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Light Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 205 pounds (14.6 stone or 93 KG).

Santos vs Romero stats

Thiago Santos stepped into the octagon with a record of 22 wins, 12 losses and 0 draws, 15 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Yoel Romero made his way to the cage with a record of 15 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 13 of those wins coming by knock out.

Thiago Santos' PFL record stood at 0-1-0, while Yoel Romero's came in at 1-0-0.

The stats suggested Romero had an advantage in power over Santos, with a 87% knock out percentage over Santos' 68%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Santos had a slight advantage over Romero, with a 5% submission rate over Romero's 0%.

Thiago Santos was the younger man by 7 years, at 40 years old.

Santos had a height advantage of 2 inches over Romero. That also extended to a 2-inch reach advantage.

Santos was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 12 more fights, and made his debut in 2010, 11 months later than Romero, whose first professional fight was in 2009. He had fought 13 more professional rounds, 81 to Romero's 68.

Santos vs Romero form

Thiago Santos had beaten 1 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Rob Wilkinson at PFL 1 on 1st April 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Theater - Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had been beaten by Jamahal Hill at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Hill on 6th August 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had been defeated by Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night on 12th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had won against Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 38 on 2nd October 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had lost to Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 259 on 6th March 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Yoel Romero had stopped 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had been beaten by Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 297 on 16th June 2023 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Light Heavyweight championship fight at Wintrust Arena, Chicago, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 285 on 23rd September 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, United Kingdom.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Alex Polizzi at Bellator 280 on 6th May 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

Before that, he had been defeated by Phil Davis at Bellator 266 on 18th September 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at SAP Center, San Jose, United States.

He had lost to Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 on 7th March 2020 by unanimous decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Thiago Santos had been fighting more than Yoel Romero.

Going to this contest, Thiago Santos had last fought 1 year, 1 month and 6 days ago, while Yoel Romero's last outing had been 10 months and 21 days ago.

Santos' last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 2 months and 1 day, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 19 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 20 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4 rounds on average.

Romero's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years and 2 months, meaning he had been fighting on average every 10 months. In those fights, he fought a total of 19 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.8 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Santos vs Romero?

Thiago Santos was a 22/25 (-100) underdog going into the contest, while Yoel Romero made his way into the ring at 22/25 (-120) with oddsmakers.