Ben Thomas
Israel Adesanya puts his newly acquired 185-pound belt on the line for the very first time when he steps into the octagon to fight the Cuban ‘soldier’ Yoel Romero. The two meet on Saturday in the Main event of UFC 248 that takes place on BT Sport 1.
Adesanya took his undefeated record to an impressive 18-0 when he stopped Robert Whittaker in round number two in October of 2019 at UFC 243. The KO won Adesanya the belt and capped off a rather impressive rise to the UFC.
Paulo Costa deemed to be the next challenger for Adesanya was forced into a bicep surgery in early October. The injury to Costa opened the door for Romero to try and win the middleweight belt on his 3rd time of asking.
Yoel Romero is a dangerous fighter for anyone in all weight divisions due to his powerful striking and his devastating punches. Romero has worked his way to a record of 13-4 that includes 6 UFC knockouts in wins over Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman and Jacare Souza.
Despite Yoel losing his last 2 fights Adesanya still believes that the fight Saturday is his toughest challenge yet. “this is the biggest fight of my career thus far. I’m ready.”
When the two meet on Saturday night and the octagon door closes I expect to see Yoel looking to close the distance early, to land some huge bombs and apply some very early pressure.
However, in previous fights Romero has shown a weakness in his cardio and once the tank runs out, which I believe it will, Adesanya will look to keep his distance and try to pick off Romero with leg kicks, head kicks and jabs before closing the fight in the 4th round via TKO.
This fight shouldn’t prove to be too much of a challenge for Adesanya unless Romero connects with a ruthless punch that he is very much known for.
My pick: Israel Adesanya.
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