Alexander Romanov (born December 11, 1990) is a Moldovan mixed martial artist and

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

, who competes in the

heavyweight division Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wor ...

of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of March 13, 2023, he is #15 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

Wrestling career

Romanov started training in freestyle wrestling at age seven. He has made four Moldovan World Teams (two as a senior and two as a junior) and eight

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

Teams (five as a senior, three as an age-group wrestler). His best result has been a bronze medal at the

2016 World University Championships Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

. His last performance to date took place at the

2020 European Wrestling Championships The 2020 European Wrestling Championships was held in Rome, Italy between 10 and 16 February 2020. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle References External linksOfficial ...

, where he placed twelfth. He is also a two-time UWW grappling European bronze medalist. Romanov studied at law faculty of Comrat State University and pedagogical faculty of

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

Sport Institute. Alexandr Romanov also competed in

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

for a brief time. While his time in the sport was not long, he won silver in the OPEN European Cup in 2016.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Early in his career after his stint in wrestling, Romanov found Chesea Eduard, a Muay Thai coach. Eduard brought Romanov into the sport of MMA and remains his coach to this day. Romanov compiled a record of 11 wins and no losses while competing in his native Moldova, primarily at Eagles Fighting Championship, where he became the heavyweight champion.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Romanov signed with the UFC on October 3, 2019, and was later scheduled to make his debut against Raphael Pessoa on April 25, 2020. However, the event was subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Romanov was then slated to face Marcin Tybura on July 12, 2020, at UFC 251. However, Romanov was removed from the card on July 1, due to a positive COVID-19 test. He was then scheduled to face

Marcos Rogério de Lima Marcos Rogério de Lima (born May 25, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2009, he formerly competed for Strikeforce, Shooto, and was a co ...

on September 5, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai, but the bout was scratched the day of the event when Lima tested positive for COVID-19. Romanov eventually made his debut on September 12, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill, when he defeated Roque Martinez via

arm-triangle choke Arm triangle choke, side choke, or head and arm choke are generic terms describing blood chokeholds in which the opponent is strangled in between their own shoulder and the practitioner's arm. This is as opposed to the regular triangle choke, whic ...

in the second round. Next, he faced

on November 7, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira. He defeated Lima with the first forearm choke in UFC history, on the first round, to claim

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

honors. Romanov faced Juan Espino on April 17, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum. During the beginning of the third round, Espino accidentally connected with a knee to the groin of Romanov, who could not continue. Romanov was declared the winner via technical split decision. 6 out of 8 media scores gave it to Espino, with the other two declaring it a Draw. Romanov faced Jared Vanderaa on October 9, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez. He won the fight via technical knockout in round two. Romanov was next expected to face Ilir Latifi at UFC Fight Night 202 on February 19, 2022. However, the bout was cancelled for undisclosed reasons. Replacing Rodrigo Nascimento, Romanov is scheduled to face Tanner Boser on April 23, 2022, at

UFC Fight Night 205 ''UFC Fight Night: Lemos vs. Andrade'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 205'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 63'' or ''UFC Vegas 52'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 23, 2022, at the UF ...

. However, on April 18, it was announced that Boser was out of the fight due to an injury. He was replaced by Chase Sherman. However, Sherman was deemed unable to compete due to a minor health issue on the day of the event and the fight was cancelled and the pair was rescheduled for

UFC on ESPN 35 ''UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 35'' and ''UFC Vegas 53'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 30, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada ...

. Romanov won the bout via keylock submission in the first round. Romanov faced Marcin Tybura on August 20, 2022 at

UFC 278 ''UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 20, 2022, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Background The event marked the promotion' ...

. Romanov lost the fight via a controversial majority decision. 17 of 18 MMA media outlets scored the bout as a draw. Romanov faced Alexander Volkov on March 11, 2023 at UFC Fight Night 221. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round.

Personal life

Romanov was born and raised in Moldova to a Russian father and Ukrainian mother. He and his wife have three children.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Ultimate Fighting Championship **

(One time) vs.

* Eagles Fighting Championship ** EFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 16–2 , Alexander Volkov , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:16 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–1 , Marcin Tybura , Decision (majority) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Salt Lake City, Utah, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–0 , Chase Sherman , Submission (keylock) , UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:11 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–0 , Jared Vanderaa , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:43 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–0 , Juan Espino , Technical Decision (split) , UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:05 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–0 ,

, Technical Submission (forearm choke) , UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:48 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 , Roque Martinez , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs. Hill , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:22 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Sérgio Freitas , TKO (submission to injury) , Eagles FC 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:28 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Sultan Murtazaliev , TKO (punches) , Eagles FC 10 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:17 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Virgil Zwicker , Submission (neck crank) , S-70: Plotforma Cup 2018 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:15 ,

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Ion Grigore , Submission (forearm choke) , Eagles FC 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:54 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Alexander Stolyarov , TKO (punches) , Eagles FC 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:36 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Ravshankhon Khusanov , TKO (punches) , Eagles FC 7 , , align=Center, 1 , align=center, 1:37 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Yuri Gorbenko , Submission (forearm choke) , Eagles FC 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:43 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Evgeniy Golub , TKO (punches) , Eagles FC 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Shota Betlemidze , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ProFC Ukraine: Brave Hearts , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:56 , Nikolaev, Ukraine , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Andrey Burdiniuk , Submission (neck crank) , Eagles FC 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:43 ,

, Moldova , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Yuriy Protsenko , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Eagles FC 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:50 ,

, Moldova ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romanov, Alexander 1990 births Living people Moldovan male mixed martial artists Moldovan people of Russian descent Moldovan people of Ukrainian descent Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Sumo Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Moldovan male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2015 European Games 20th-century Moldovan people 21st-century Moldovan people