Israel Adesanya went out of his way to pursue a fight with Yoel Romero, since he wants to prove he can defeat all the division’s best, and he hasn’t stopped reminding people of that fact.
Adesanya fires another warning shot at Romero
After Adesanya unified the UFC’s middleweight titles in October by taking out Robert Whittaker, he was expected to fight Paulo Costa next. The latter, like Adesanya, is undefeated, and he’s coming off a win over Romero.
But, when Costa was sidelined with a bicep injury, Adesanya started calling for a scrap with Romero. When people pointed out that the powerful wrestler is coming off two losses, Adesanya let it be known that he wants to show his doubters he can defeat a world class wrestler. The vaunted striker also noted that not too many people are holding up their hand, asking to fight Romero.
Well, Adesanya got his wish and he’s set to fight Romero at UFC 248 this Saturday. But, that hasn’t stopped the champ from reminding people he asked to fight the ridiculously, powerful fighter. Case in point, during a recent promo Adesanyan did, he said this (quotes via MMA News):
“It’s me versus the ‘oogie boogeyman’ Yoel Romero,” Adesanya said. “The guy that everyone’s scared of — especially Darren Till. You saw me call him out because I don’t have fear. Fear is different from danger, you have to understand. I’m a dangerous man. A lot of people fear him because of what they’ve been told or what they see in the media, but I’ve seen the guy bleed, I’ve seen him cheat, I’ve seen him hurt. I know he’s human and like I said, fear is different from danger and I’m a dangerous man.
“He is a dangerous man as well, I have to dot my I’s and cross my t’s,” Adesanya added. “Will he be the first one to beat me? Keep dreaming b***h, ha!”
So, it will be really interesting to see what happens on Saturday. If Adesanya scores an emphatic win over Romero, then his stock will only spike further. Although Romero is coming off a couple of losses, he is the most decorated wrestler Adesanya has faced to date.
Adesanya quickly took out Derek Brunson, who is an experienced wrestler, but he doesn’t have the Olympic Silver Medalist background that Romero has.
Why should you watch #UFC248? Let @Stylebender tell you why… pic.twitter.com/FYLnT3wINE
— UFC Aus/New Zealand (@UFC_AUSNZ) March 2, 2020
UFC 248
Saturday’s card will be hosted by T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Here is the complete line-up.
UFC Middleweight Championship
Israel Adesanya (c) vs. Yoel Romero
UFC Strawweight Championship
Weili Zhang (c) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Lightweight: Beneil Dariush vs. Drakkar Klose
Welterweight: Neil Magny vs. Li Jingliang
Welterweight: Alex Oliveira vs. Max Griffin
Bantamweight: Sean O’Malley vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez
Lightweight: Mark Madsen vs. Austin Hubbard
Middleweight: Rodolfo Vieira vs. Saparbek Safarov
Middleweight: Gerald Meerschaert vs. Deron Winn
Strawweight: Emily Whitmire vs. Polyana Viana
Bantamweight: Danaa Batgerel vs. Guido Cannetti
Featherweight: Jamall Emmers vs. Giga Chikadze
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