Yoel Romero and Alex Nicholson did not need long to turn Friday’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA main event into a rough night in Miami. Romero stopped Nicholson after a takedown and a left hand from top position, with Nicholson tapping to strikes after the punch broke his jaw.
The finish came after Romero was originally scheduled to face Hector Lombard. Nicholson stepped in against the former UFC and Bellator title challenger, and Romero ended the fight once he put him on the floor.
Watch the finish below:
49 year old Yoel Romero just broke a guy's jaw and made him tap to strikes #GamebredFC pic.twitter.com/DJbTMtmGfF
— SleeperKO (@SleeperKO) May 2, 2026
Romero’s Wrestling Base Still Drives The Damage
Romero’s background makes the finish less surprising, even this late in his career. Wikipedia lists him as a 2000 Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling, a 1999 world champion, and a former UFC middleweight title challenger. He also challenged for the Bellator light heavyweight title after leaving the UFC.
That résumé matters here because the finish was not a wild swing in open space. Romero used the same base that carried him through wrestling and MMA, put Nicholson down, and created the finishing shot from top control. It fits with a career built on explosive wrestling, sudden power, and very little forgiveness once an opponent is stuck underneath him.
Nicholson also came in with real experience. Wikipedia lists him as a professional MMA fighter since 2014, with past runs in the UFC, Legacy Fighting Alliance, and Professional Fighters League. He fought in the UFC from 2016 to 2017 and later competed at heavyweight in PFL.
Romero entered this bout after setbacks in RAF and IBA Bareknuckle, so this was a needed result as much as a highlight. Takedown, ground strike, tap to strikes, fight over.
Luis Palomino also returned to MMA on the card and stopped Darrell Horcher in the third round of the co-main event. For Romero, the result adds another violent entry to a late-career stretch that has included his Bellator finish of Melvin Manhoef, bare-knuckle appearances, and freestyle wrestling work with Real American Freestyle.
Romero is no longer in his UFC prime, but the tools that made him dangerous are still there. In a bareknuckle MMA ruleset, one clean Romero shot from top position is still enough to end somebody’s night, and Nicholson has now taken another hard Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA loss against a fellow UFC veteran.
