Yoel Romero makes weight for UFC 241 bout vs. Paulo Costa

Yoel Romero made weight—and a statement—on Friday.

At the official weigh-ins for UFC 241, Romero came in at 184.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds under the limit (including a one-pound allowance) for his middleweight matchup with Paulo Costa on Saturday in Anaheim, California. Costa also successfully made weight at 186 pounds.

Significantly, this would have also made Romero eligible for a championship bout were a title on the line. The 42-year-old missed weight for his last two bouts, both of which were originally scheduled as championship opportunities.

At UFC 225 in June of last year, Romero came in at 185.2 pounds, over the middleweight championship limit. That miss changed his title bout with Robert Whittaker into a non-title opportunity. Romero went on to lose to Whittaker by split decision.

Prior to that, he missed weight for what was to be an interim middleweight championship bout with Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 in February 2018. Romero weighed 187.7 pounds for that bout, well over championship weight again, but kept himself at the front of the contender line with a third-round knockout of Rockhold.

Romero was the last of the 24 fighters to weigh in on Friday morning.

See full weigh-in results and video here.