The Yoel Romero era has officially arrived.
The powerful Cuban cemented himself as a middleweight to watch in the UFC Fight Night headliner, as he stopped Lyoto Machida with a series of vicious elbows on the ground 1:38 into the third round at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., on Saturday night.
Romero became the first person to knock out Machida since Maurcio Rua stopped “The Dragon” inside of a round at UFC 113 in 2010. More importantly, the dominant victory thrusts “The Soldier of God” into the center of the 185-pound title discussion.