Alex Nicholson has issued a statement following his disappointing defeat to Yoel Romero.
The 36-year-old veteran stepped up on late notice to face ‘Soldier of God’ when Hector Lombard withdrew from their bare-knuckle MMA clash.
In the end, Yoel Romero scored a 70-second stoppage win in the main event of Jorge Masvidal’s latest Gamebred MMA event.
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Alex Nicholson admits he quit against Yoel Romero
Alex Nicholson pointed to his jaw after tapping to strikes as Yoel Romero began delivering ground and pound during their fight.
It was believed that the 34-fight MMA veteran had suffered a broken jaw, but that was not the case.
49-year-old Yoel Romero just made his opponent quit from a broken jaw in bare knuckle MMA pic.twitter.com/z210LilFg7— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 2, 2026
Nicholson is annoyed with himself for ‘quitting’ after finding out that his jaw was dislocated rather than broken.
“Thought jaw was broken was just dislocated,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Very frustrated, I quit.
“Congrats legend. Honor to share the cage with you.
“Appreciate all my sponsors and supporters.”
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Hector Lombard still wants to fight Yoel Romero
Yoel Romero shows no interest in retirement despite being 49 years old.
The former two-time UFC middleweight title challenger already has an offer for his next fight.
“There is another Gamebred event in September,” Lombard said on Instagram after Jorge Masvidal’s announcement.
Hector Lombard blamed his withdrawal on a lack of preparation time and illness.
‘Lightning’ insists he still wants to face Romero in bare-knuckle MMA later this year.
“We can do it in September with the right training and preparation,” Lombard said on Instagram.
“I had one week of training, and the second week I got super sick.
“Romero, I can see you in September. Masvidal, lock me in for September.
“I got sick after two weeks of training… I got super sick.”
2026-05-03 00:00:00
