Yoel Romero eyeing what his brother already has

Yoel Romero is one of the great amateur wrestlers of this, or any, generation. He beat the legendary Cael Sanderson three times and is, arguably, the top wrestler ever to transition to mixed martial arts.

He suffered his first MMA loss in 2011, in just his fifth fight, when he got too ambitious and was beaten by the vastly more experienced Rafael "Fejaio" Cavalcante at Strikeforce 36.

Cavalcante is a quality striker and his hands were simply too much for Romero, as he stopped him in the second round.

Romero's brother, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, is a world cruiserweight boxing champion with a 29-1 record. But though it would seem to make sense that Romero would have sought out his brother for help with his striking, Yoel didn't and never really thought of it.

It was, though, not because of a family feud but more out of respect.

"My brother hits waaaaay too hard for me to be sparring with," said Romero, who on Saturday in Hollywood, Fla., will meet ex-light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in the main event of a UFC card.

Not wanting to give his brother bragging rights at the dinner table, Romero figured things out on his own. And slowly but surely, he's becoming a quality striker.

It doesn't hurt that he has world-class wrestling skills and that everyone he faces has to be wary of being taken down and winding up with Romero dropping elbows on them from the top.

But Romero said he doesn't try to rely on his wrestling in his MMA career.

"When I turned pro, I took everything about wrestling and put it aside and focused only on learning MMA from the ground up," he said.

Romero has learned quickly. He had his first MMA fight in 2009, two years after defecting from Cuba, and is now 5-0 with four finishes in the UFC. And though his wrestling is world-class, he rarely utilizes it in the cage.

Romero would rather punch, kick, knee and elbow his way to a win. The wrestling will always be there, and it's something he'll never forget, but he said he wants to put on exciting fights and test himself in a new athletic endeavor.

He's 38 and doesn't have a long time in MMA, but he's quickly moved to the top of the pack in the UFC's crowded middleweight division. He's ranked sixth, behind champion Chris Weidman and top contenders Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Vitor Belfort, Machida and Anderson Silva.

He was supposed to fight Souza in April on a Fox televised show, but was injured and had to pull out. Souza won impressively over Chris Camozzi and will fight the Weidman-Rockhold winner for the title.

In the meantime, all Romero can do is bide his time. His brother is already a world champion and the two have spoken of holding belts simultaneously, much like the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, did in boxing.

But the devoutly religious Romero, who uses biblical references in response to nearly everything he's asked, insists he doesn't want to talk about a championship yet other than to acknowledge it would be fun to have a belt at the same time as his brother.

Machida is the most significant opponent of his career, and he figures to be desperate given he was beaten in April by Rockhold.

A loss would be devastating for the 37-year-old Machida, and he knows it, so Romero is expecting him to be at his best.

He insists there is no pressure on him, even given the stakes in the fight. He's not going to try to finish Machida more impressively than Rockhold did in April – if that is even possible, given Rockhold's stellar performance – and is simply looking to win.

"Why would I feel pressure?" Romero asked rhetorically. "Even the champion, Chris Weidman, wasn't able to finish Lyoto. In this sport, every fight is different. Vitor beat Rockhold and Rockhold beat Lyoto and Chris beat Vitor.

"I can't worry about how it happens. You really can't compare. All you can do is go out and win and then get ready for the next guy you fight. If I do that, eventually, I believe my time [to fight for the championship] will come."