Santos vs Romero

Who won Santos vs Romero?

Yoel Romero beat Thiago Santos by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of PFL vs. Bellator, on Saturday 24th February 2024 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Yoel Romero.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Light Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 205 pounds (14.6 stone or 93 KG).

Santos vs Romero stats

Thiago Santos stepped into the octagon with a record of 22 wins, 12 losses and 0 draws, 15 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Yoel Romero made his way to the cage with a record of 15 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 13 of those wins coming by knock out.

This was Thiago Santos' 3rd fight in the PFL, having made his debut for the promotion in 2023.

Thiago Santos' PFL record stood at 0-2-0, while Yoel Romero's came in at 1-0-0.

The stats suggested Romero had an advantage in power over Santos, with a 87% knock out percentage over Santos' 68%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Santos had a slight advantage over Romero, with a 5% submission rate over Romero's 0%.

Thiago Santos was the younger man by 6 years, at 41 years old.

Santos had a height advantage of 2 inches over Romero. That also extended to a 2-inch reach advantage.

Santos was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 12 more fights, and made his debut in 2010, 11 months later than Romero, whose first professional fight was in 2009. He had fought 14 more professional rounds, 82 to Romero's 68.

Santos vs Romero form

Santos had lost to all of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Denis Goltsov at PFL 4: 2024 Regular Season on 13th June 2024 by knockout in the 1st round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, United States.

Previous to that, he had been beaten by Yoel Romero at PFL vs. Bellator: CHAMPS on 24th February 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Going into that contest, he had been defeated by Rob Wilkinson at PFL 1 on 1st April 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Theater - Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas, United States.

Before that, he had lost to Jamahal Hill at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Hill on 6th August 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had been beaten by Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night on 12th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Romero had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Thiago Santos at PFL vs. Bellator: CHAMPS on 24th February 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Previous to that, he had been defeated by Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 297 on 16th June 2023 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Light Heavyweight championship fight at Wintrust Arena, Chicago, United States.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 285 on 23rd September 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, United Kingdom.

Before that, he had defeated Alex Polizzi at Bellator 280 on 6th May 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

He had lost to Phil Davis at Bellator 266 on 18th September 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at SAP Center, San Jose, United States.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Thiago Santos had been fighting more than Yoel Romero.

Going to this contest, Thiago Santos had last fought 8 months and 26 days ago, while Yoel Romero's last outing had been 1 year and 15 days ago.

Santos' last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 27 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 7 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 16 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.2 rounds on average.

Romero's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 5 months and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 11 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 17 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Santos vs Romero?

Thiago Santos was a 22/25 (-100) underdog going into the contest, while Yoel Romero made his way into the ring at 22/25 (-120) with oddsmakers.