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“He has my attention and my respect now because he’s young, but he approaches it like he’s from the old school, where the best need to fight the best,” Romero said of Adesanya wanting to share the Octagon with him in order to solidify his place atop the division. “That’s why I say he has my attention now because he is approaching this like a really smart man and he wants to fight with the best.”
Listening to Romero speak about this weekend’s main event and his place in the division, you get the sense that the stoic, religious man who has sacrificed more than most could fathom in order to pursue his current athletic dreams sees all of this as fate — that his back-to-back losses to Whittaker and Costa were smaller pieces to a larger puzzle, all of which has led him back to Las Vegas and another shot at the middleweight title.
“It’s a fantastic time,” Romero said as fight week kicked off. “It’s the same place, but the opponent is different. It’s a new chance to get in there and get it done.
“It’s a chance to make justice,” he added.
And while he admits it will mean a lot to his family, the thoughtful veteran isn’t letting himself think ahead to the emotions that will wash over him should he emerge victorious on Saturday night.
“I don’t know,” said Romero when asked what it would feel like to become the undisputed UFC middleweight champion. “It will mean a lot to my family because of everything that I did to get here, everything that I had to accomplish, and everything that I had to leave behind to get to where I am right now.
“But I don’t have any idea (how I’ll feel). Until I knock him out, I won’t feel like a champion.”
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