Report: Yoel Romero vs. Alexander Gustafsson Fight Discussed for UFC 230 at MSG

A light heavyweight clash between Yoel Romero and Alexander Gustafsson is reportedly being discussed as a potential contest for UFC 230.

The event is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 3, and according to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, a possible meeting between the pair is in the pipeline:

At the moment, Daniel Cormier is the holder of both the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles. He last defended the light heavyweight prize against Volkan Oezdemir in January and clinched his second title after knocking out Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 in July.

The potential showdown would see Gustafsson back inside the Octagon for the first time since May 2017, when he beat Glover Teixeira via knockout in a thrilling contest.

In the past, the Swede has had two opportunities to challenge for the light heavyweight title, losing on both occasions against Jon Jones in 2013 and Cormier in 2015.

Cormier himself tweeted in June that he would love to see Gustafsson take on Romero:

On Instagram, the Swede responded, telling Cormier to "defend your belt already or relinquish it by December 2018 and stop [wasting] everyone's time."

Romero has traditionally competed at middleweight in the UFC, although talk of a potential move up the division has been triggered by the fact that he has missed weight in both of his last two fights.

UFC President Dana White said he thinks the Cuban should "move up to 205 pounds and fight the No. 1 contender to see who fights for the title," per Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie.

In two of his past three bouts, Romero was scheduled to fight for the middleweight strap against Robert Whittaker. He lost both bouts via decision, although most recently at UFC 225 missing the weight meant Whittaker's belt was not on the line.

It'd be a surprise for some to see Romero in action at UFC 230. Per TSN Sports' Aaron Bronsteter, he was set to fight Paulo Costa before pulling out:

According to Greg Rosenstein of ESPN, Romero said in August it'll be "maybe four or five months" until he's back in action and that he will "need to be smart" when it comes to his recovery.

At the moment, UFC 230 is without a main event, although the card is taking shape. Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier will go head-to-head, with both men saying on social media that an inaugural 165-pound title will be on the line in New York.