"Somebody should study him to see how far a human being can go."
Trainer Pedro Lay is talking about Yoel Romero, the 42-year-old UFC title challenger, who, with one look, will make you realise just how unathletic you really are.
Romero is fighting Israel Adesanya, whose own legend is increasing with each fight, to try and become a champion for the first time in his career.
He's lost his previous two fights, but middleweight king Adesanya wants him and UFC president and kingmaker, Dana White, has granted him his wish.
Romero looks and, apparently, feels like he's carved out of stone.
"When you talk to the guys he fought, let them tell you the story of how the fight played out,” White said.
"Every time they hit him, it hurt them. They said it’s literally like fighting a piece of concrete, and nobody that’s ever fought him wants to fight him again. They don’t wanna fight him again. Those are the type of things that would make a guy who’s the champ say ‘I don’t need that s***’, right?"
Why Yoel Romero is the most feared fighter since Mike Tyson in his prime
UFC commentator Joe Rogan said: "If you look up 'athletic freak' in the dictionary, Yoel Romero comes to mind."
This is a guy who swings a sledgehammer with one hand - even the mighty Thor needs two.
Again, Romero is 42 years old.
So what does Romero do to stay in such intimidating shape? Several open workouts and Instagram videos have given us a small insight into how the monster was made.
The Olympic silver medallist has a mentality and belief that is as strong as the exterior frame he sports.
You'd imagine as much, because the dedication it takes to maintain a body like that is insane.
"You don't just become a wrestler, you are born a wrestler. God has to choose a person and create a wrestler," he said.
And as Pedro Lay alluded to, he is only getting stronger and he represents some kind of anomaly.
During his workouts with Lay, Romero can be seen with plenty of resistance training in sparring situations to help with his explosiveness, but he also practices striking while holding weights.
"I get in shape faster, so in these [later] years, we can train less," Romero explained.
"We realised that with less training, I get in shape faster. We could over-train and we don't want that."
Lay said he does not know when his 'student' will stop waking up wanting to fight.
"Yoel was the greatest wrestler on the Cuban national team during two Olympic cycles. And it was said that his strength had no limits," he explained.
"He is 42 years old and his strength still increases. We do not know when it will stop."
The training he puts himself through is the type of stuff that would weasel out guys half his age.
Romero has the wrestling abilities to match any of the greats who have stepped into the octagon, but his fearsome power has become the stuff of legends.
"They don't know where, how or when I'm going to hit. And when I hit, I hit hard," he said.
Anderson Silva seemed unbeatable until 2013 when he ran into Chris Weidman. He's only won once in eight outings since then and is now 44. His powers began to wane at age 36 and, yes, the broken leg did not help him, but that's a typical mark for UFC fighters.
Chuck Liddell, Ken Shamrock, Rampage Jackson - there are many more names. It's virtually unheard of for someone like Romero at age 42 to be doing what he's doing.
What an animal he truly is.
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