Jorge Masvidal Breaks Down Adesanya vs. Romero

Jorge Masvidal gave his thoughts on the upcoming UFC 248 headliner between middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero.

The two middleweights are set to clash on March 7 in a fight many hardcore fans are excited to see. Masvidal is one of them and believes his training partner and friend in Romero is going into the bout a very different fighter following his last result — a very close decision loss to Paul Costa:

“He’s ready, man,” Masvidal told ESPN. “This is a good training camp for him. His mind is right and it’s been right for over a period of time. Before the Izzy fight, he had a very bitter mouth about his last fight [vs. Costa] and I understood because I thought he won as well. Yoel sometimes, he wins and takes a couple of weeks off. After that fight, he was jsut back in the gym, hungry as ever.

“We’re going to see how much better conditioned he is for this fight, better than any other fight because he’s been in training camp for so long and his mind hasn’t gotten away. I think maybe that decision loss might have been good in insight because the fire he’s coming in with for this fight, I like what I’m seeing.”

Can the undefeated Adesanya handle this new Romero? Masvidal is a fan of “The Last Stylebender” and heaped praise on his numerous qualities.

However, he feels Adesanya hasn’t faced anyone like Romero yet and naturally, is picking his friend to come away with the win:

“Izzy’s got so much talent, so precise with his striking,” Masvidal explained. “But I don’t think, well, I know he hasn’t faced anything like Yoel. When Yoel’s at his best, he is one of the best dual-threats that you can come around. He can take you down from the clinch, from the single leg, from the double leg, he can grab your ankle and make you do a backflip. And any one of his hands in your face — forget about the knees — if he touches with a knee or elbow, you’re going to a place for a long time. You might wake up in a recovery bed.

“Yoel’s one of those few guys that can grapple at a high level and at any moment in the fight [knock you out]. There’s not many guys like that. Obviously, Izzy’s younger, great conditioning, master of the standup, great reach and he can dictate the pace really well. … I think it’s going to be an amazing fight. Obviously I’m biased in this one. I’m going with my boy Yoel. But Izzy’s one of the best guys I’ve seen for a while at 185.”

What do you make of Masvidal’s breakdown?