Will Nigerian UFC Champion, Israel Adesanya Beat Cuban Challenger, Yoel Romero At UFC 248?
UFC 248 is here upon us and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas has the undefeated middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defending his Middleweight title against the ever dangerous Yoel Romero in the main event.
This title defense against Romero is probably the biggest test of Adesanya’s career. The funniest part? He didn’t have to pick him. After Adesanya’s title winning fight in Australia, he immediately called out the number 1 contender, Paulo Costa and everyone was certain that would be his first title defense. But a bicep injury and surgery later, there was no clear contender. Jacare Souza had moved up to light heavyweight, Darren Till and Jared Cannonier both had impressive wins and Romero was coming off a three match losing streak.
In typical Adesanya fashion, he then called out Romero. Why? He said he wants to stay active and believes his legacy won’t be complete unless he fought the boogeyman of the division. And not just fight him, he wants to be the first person to either comprehensively beat him or knock him out. How is that for heart?
Everyone agrees that it is a risky decision where he has little to win and everything to lose. If he wins, its just a win against a 42-year-old on a three-match losing streak and history says that Romero’s opponents get injured for months regardless of the results. Ask Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, Tim Kennedy, Chris Weirdman and Luke Rockhold.
In this world of fickle fans, a loss for Adesanya means he will get dismissed as a hype who got pushed by the company and he is likely not going to get a shot at the title until Romero defends against Paulo Costa.
The Soldier of God, as he is popularly called, may have lost three of his last four fights but that’s not for lack of trying. All three losses were controversial and many fans still believe he was a victim of a bad judging system used by the UFC.
Despite what the official records say, he is the scariest person in the division and Darren Till was vocal about not fighting him on Twitter. He is an Olympic medallist who is every bit as strong as he looks and has explosive power that can end a match in a split second.
He has questionable cardio but he has built his game around that. In most of his fights, he starts slow and purposely loses rounds to conserve energy then in the later rounds, he lets his punches and kicks fly. He also has a massive advantage in the grappling and wrestling department even though we haven’t seen this lately unless in dire situations.
The Nigerian born champion, Israel Stylebender Adesanya is a world-class kickboxer. He may have just 18 MMA matches but he has fought in more than 75 pro kickboxing matches and many more boxing matches.
He has cat-like reflexes, beautiful head movement and unorthodox striking. He has a style that made a very excellent champion like Whittaker look ordinary.
Romero may be huge but Adesanya is 4 inches taller and has a seven inch reach advantage, according to FightMetrics. This should help the champion pick apart Romero in a standup battle. Adesanya also has a 85% takedown defense which is great but apart from Martin Vettori, he hasn’t fought a high level wrestler like Romero. If the match is wrestling heavy, things may get hairy for him.
The major question is WHEN Romero’s kicks and punches land, can Adesanya take them? We saw him get rocked and taken to deep waters in the fight against Gastelum but the question I ask people is: Did he have to fight in the pocket in that match? Against Whittaker, he used his distance well and the only time Whittaker landed a punch cleanly was seconds before he got knocked out.
Adesanya is in the prime of his career and everytime he steps into the Octagon, he shuts up his critics with an even better perfomance than the last. If he can handle Romero’s power punches and avoid going to the ground with him, Adesanya can show him and the world that his unbeaten run is not a fluke and retain his belt.
The whole of Nigeria is behind the champ and this humble writer boldly predicts a third round TKO win for Israel Adesanya.
Who do you think will win? Sound off in the comments section.
