Introduction
Tuesday, August 25th, Canadian lightweight prospect Anthony Romero will be in action on Dana White’s Contender Series, where he will be looking to continue his undefeated ways against Mike Breeden. He will be looking for another win, as Romero looks to impress the UFC brass in an attempt to earn a contract. He represents Para-Bellum MMA, a solid camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Striking: Romero has a taekwondo background, and it shows. Romero throws a lot of kicks, including a very good looking side kick. He also throws a lot of low kicks, which are effective. He has good movement on the feet and a wide stance. His straight punches are also very good. His power isn’t the most threatening, but because he throws in volume and has great accuracy, he accumulates damage quickly to score the finish via strikes. That said, as a pro, he only has two striking stoppages. He’s able to outstrike his opponents to a decision, but going forward, finishing the fight is going to be something he needs to do more often.
Experience: Romero is 23 years old, but already has seven pro bouts and ten amateur fights. That’s a great amount of experience for a person his age. He lost one amateur bout and no pro bouts. He has quality experience too. He’s fought many times under the King of the Cage banner, a solid organization that helps build up some great prospects in this sport. His opponents combined record at the time of facing off was 24-6, which shows that he’s not fighting cans. He’s fighting fellow fighters who are prospects and trying to build up their cage time as well. Romero stands out among the bunch.
Needs Improvement
Wrestling Question Marks: Romero has some solid grappling, but to this point, especially in a weight class where there are an abundance of wrestlers, Romero has some question marks in his defensive wrestling. It’s not that he’s a bad wrestler; it’s just that we don’t know much yet. Lightweight is a shark tank of top-notch wrestlers, especially in the UFC. Until we see Romero’s defenses tested, this will remain a question mark and a possible point of exploitation.
Outlook
UFC Midcarder: At just 23 years old, Romero has a bright future in this sport. He already has a lot of experience despite his age, which means he’s ahead of where many fighters his age are right now. King of the Cage has done a good job developing this prospect, giving him good fights as he collected his cage experience. Is Romero ready to contend in the UFC tomorrow? No, but that’s not a problem. He shouldn’t be ready for a title fight yet. He’s a guy that is going to make the UFC roster at some point and he will stick around for a while. I don’t think he will ever be a UFC Champion, but he will win notable fights and collect some bonuses. The UFC will want this kid to be around as well, as they like having Canadians on the roster when they take their show up north.
MMA Intel 