Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Get up to date with all the details of the UFC 248 main event between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero.
Israel Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will aim to make the first defence of his UFC middleweight title return this weekend in the main event of UFC 248, as he takes on top middleweight contender Yoel Romero (13-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC). UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero airs live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this Saturday night, March 7th. The main card will air on PPV via ESPN+ starting with a fight time of 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT, with the ESPN prelims kicking off at 8:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. ET on Fight Pass and ESPN+.
How do these two stack up?
Adesanya: 30 years old | 6’4” | 80” reach
Romero: 42 years old | 5’10” | 73.5” reach
How did these two get here?
Adesanya: W – Robert Whittaker (KO) | W – Kelvin Gastelum (DEC) | W – Anderson Silva (DEC)
Romero: L – Paulo Costa (DEC) | L – Robert Whittaker (DEC) | W – Luke Rockhold (KO)
What have these two done recently?
When Israel Adesanya joined the UFC in 2018, it was clear it wasn’t going to take “The Last Stylebender” long to work his way up to the top of the 185-pound rankings. As the competition got tougher for Adesanya, he continued to improve. After decision wins against Marvin Vettori and Brad Tavares, Adesanya put on a striking clinic against Derek Brunson and then won the interim title against Kelvin Gastelum. To top it all off, Adesanya handed Robert Whittaker his first loss in over five years to become the new middleweight champ.
Yoel Romero finally has the chance to become the UFC middleweight champion. Missing weight twice in 2018 for a title bout with Robert Whittaker and an interim title bout with Luke Rockhold, successfully hitting the mark for his fight with Adesanya at UFC 248 has meant the 42-year-old Romero could become the second oldest champion in UFC history behind Randy Couture. Despite the consecutive losses against Paulo Costa and Whittaker, Romero is still a huge threat to Adesanya and shouldn’t be written off this weekend.
Why should you care?
Adesanya has all the tools to outclass Romero for 25-minutes, but never write off the freak of nature that is “Soldier of God.”