Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero PFL x Bellator: Champs Odds, Time, and Prediction

Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero is one of the most interesting matchups of PFL x Bellator: Champs for several reasons. First of all, the odds are so close that it’s literally a coin toss when it comes to who’s going to win.

Secondly, this is a duel between two real legends of MMA who used to fight in the UFC in the past. Finally, these two guys are incredibly fun to watch in the ring as they both love to finish the fights in a spectacular manner.

Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero Odds

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When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024
• Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
• How to Watch: ESPN+ PPV / DAZN PPV

Thiago Santos Seen as a Slight Favorite

Thiago Santos is a true legend of the sport who’s been fighting for nearly 15 years. He’s 22-11-1 overall with plenty of fights against potential MMA GOATs. The best example is his fight with Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight title.

The fight in question is actually when his downfall started. Jones landed plenty of devastating leg kicks in that fight, which resulted in serious problems for Santos who had to go to surgery to fix his knees. Doctors did fix them, but he just wasn’t able to get back to his former glory.

In fact, after the Jones fight, he went on to lose four of his next five UFC fights. Then, he switched to PFL where he made his debut last year. Santos fought Rob Wilkinson for three rounds and lost by decision. The result was later overturned to no contest after it was revealed that Wilkinson was using a banned substance.

However, that doesn’t change anything for Santos. The Brazilian’s recent record still looks bad. But maybe he can improve it at PFL x Bellator: Champs?

46-Year-Old Romero Not Giving Up

Yoel Romero is turning 47 in April, but the Cuban fighter is showing no signs that he’s going to retire anytime soon. In fact, he seems to think he deserves another shot at the title.

His last fight was a battle for the Bellator Light Heavyweight title, which he lost to Vadim Nemkov by points. However, he did not embarrass himself in that fight. In fact, it was just the opposite.

Romero was impressive in each of his four Bellator fights. Even before moving to Bellator, he was doing alright in the UFC despite losing four fights in a row. It sounds bad, but all of those losses happened by decision. Plus, one of those happened against Israel Adesanya in the fight for the UFC Middleweight title.

He also lost to Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker in the middleweight division, as well as to Phil Davis in a light heavyweight clash. But before entering the losing streak, Romero was one of the most feared fighters in the UFC.

The Olympic silver medalist in wrestling used to destroy his opponents with incredible punching power. He’s got KO wins in his portfolio against such tough opponents as Luke Rockhold, Lyoto Machida, and Derek Brunson. Can he add Thiago Santos to the list as well?

Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero Prediction

Thiago Santos’s knees are a ruin, and we think Yoel Romero will exploit that. He’s going to land plenty of devastating strikes that will hurt Santos.

We think that’s going to be enough for a win, probably by decision. Santos is a tough guy, so he can definitely stay in the ring for 15 minutes, but we just can’t see him winning.

Pick: Yoel Romero