This article is part three in a series that will profile five of the top Canadian mixed martial artists not yet signed to a major promotion.

Part 1: Laramie gets shot at UFC dream

Part 2: Jasudavicius takes unlikely path to MMA career

No matter how successful undefeated Canadian lightweight Anthony Romero is in his MMA career, his journey will pale in comparison to the one that brought his father to Canada.

At just 23 years of age, Welland, Ont.’s Romero is already 7-0 as a professional. He attributes much of his success to the example set by his family.

Romero’s father, Renee, was just 14 years old when he was drafted into the El Salvadoran army during the country’s long civil war. Renee completed his service at 16, then decided to leave the perilous situation by crossing the Mexican border into America before eventually settling in Welland.

Renee decided to stay in Welland because the small town presented him with job opportunities and he established friendships that made him feel at home.

“He was just a young kid in the army, travelling from El Salvador to California, then California to Canada,” Romero told TSN. “He had to find a way to get across from the (United) States and then needed Canadian citizenship. Just hard work and long days.”

Renee worked in a factory for 17 years and is now a truck driver.

“I am so proud of his sacrifices,” Romero said. “He came to Canada and made his life without even knowing how to speak English.”

When Romero competes, he carries both the Canadian and El Salvadoran flag, proudly representing both countries.

“El Salvador doesn’t get a lot of credit for the people they bring up, my father being one,” said Romero. “My father is one of my heroes. His story is just amazing and to see that I’m able to do something great and represent the country, it’s an honour.”

Like his father, Romero didn’t get to where he is now by taking an easy path. His combined opponents’ records dating back to his amateur career is 52-14-0 (per Tapology, a website that compiles results for mixed martial arts events). While others pad their records or take easy bouts, Romero did not go that route.

Oddly enough, none of Romero’s professional bouts have taken place in Canada, with most of them being with King of the Cage (KOTC), a promotion that typically books their events in Niagara Falls, N.Y. or other cities in upstate New York.

His lone professional bout outside of the KOTC promotion was his most recent one, which took place in Columbus, Ohio, for the Ohio Combat League, where he won the promotion’s lightweight championship with a first-round knockout over Jacob Miller.

Now Romero has the opportunity to make good on his own hard work and long days when he competes on the upcoming season of Dana White Contender Series against American Mike Breeden on Aug. 25, with the winner potentially securing a UFC contract.

“I want to be better than Georges St-Pierre,” said Romero. “I want to do great things and I know that’s a hard task to achieve, but there’s always things that can be possible. That’s my role model and someone who I want to surpass one day.”

Romero comes by the nickname “The Genius” honestly.
“It’s from one of my old coaches. I always train smart and I fight smart as well,” Romero said. “I don’t get hurt too much in my fights, so that’s kind of where the idea comes from.”

His methodical nature has most of his wins coming by way of decision, which Romero will likely need to avoid if he is to defeat Breeden and earn a contract from UFC president White, who tends to favour finishes when he decides who is going to the big show at the end of each episode of the Contender Series.

"Once you get to that level of the sport, you've got to be willing to accept anybody to fight," said Romero. "The goal is to get there right now and once I get there, I'm pretty much down to face anybody. It's the highest level of the sport, I have to expect to face the best guys in the world."