UFC superstar Yoel Romero says he's not even close to retirement -- despite the fact he's about to turn 43 years old -- telling TMZ Sports he's got another 10 YEARS left in the tank!
The Cuban-born middleweight star is gearing up to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 in Las Vegas on Saturday ... and Romero says he's laser-focused on winning Israel's belt.
There's no bad blood between these two ... Romero says he loves everybody, but he's ready to take care of business when they step in the Octagon on March 7.
As for his UFC future, Romero tells us he thinks he's good to go for another decade ... and made sure to show off his abs to let us know he means business!
We've done some digging and from what we've found, the oldest person to take a UFC fight is Randy Couture who was 47 years old when he battled Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 in 2011.
Couture lost that fight but had won a previous 3 matches. Randy was 46 years old when he defeated James Toney.
To our knowledge, it doesn't appear anyone over the age of 50 has ever competed in a UFC fight.
Could Yoel be the first? Stay tuned ... for about 7 more years!