Israel Adesanya Confirms Yoel Romero Fight Will Take Place At UFC 248
It looks like we finally have a date and location for Israel Adesanya’s first title defense.
Adesanya was initially expected to defend his UFC middleweight title against Paulo Costa. However, it was later revealed that “The Eraser” would be on the sidelines after undergoing bicep surgery.
As a result, Yoel Romero emerged as the next title contender. Although he is on a two-fight losing streak, those losses were extremely close and given the fact that Adesanya himself wanted Romero, it’s a fight that UFC president Dana White seemed very much open to.
The only problem was there had been no updates for a while or any hinted announcements. That is, until now, as Adesanya provided an update on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday:
“The fight’s done. … Make no mistake — I’m still putting work in,” Adesanya said. “I’m still getting ready for my second title defense against a veteran of the game. A veteran in wrestling, a tough motherf*cker, the boogeyman of the division. The guy nobody calls out — except for ‘Stylebender.'”
When Helwani asked if it would take place on March 7 which is the date for UFC 248, Adesanya — seemingly inadvertently — confirmed as such:
“Yep, that’s the one,” he added. “That’s me.”
If that is the case, it looks like UFC 248 will have two title fights as Weili Zhang is set to defend her women’s strawweight title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk on the card.
What do you make of this news?
