Israel Adesanya says he will be fighting Yoel Romero next and the fight is done on his end.
Ever since Paulo Costa got injured, Adesanya turned his attention to Romero even though the Cuban is on a losing streak. He has made it known Romero is the scariest fight in the division and one he wanted to show off his wrestling defense against.
Yet, Dana White was reluctant to book the fight because he wasn’t sure it was going to sell with Romero on a two-fight losing streak. But, according to Adesanya, the fight is done and will be at UFC 248 on March 7 in Las Vegas.
“The fight’s done. Make no mistake, I’m still putting work in,” Adesanya said to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via The MacLife). “I’m still getting ready for my second title defence against a veteran [Romero] of the game. A veteran in wrestling, a tough motherf***er, the boogeyman of the division. The guy nobody calls out.”
Israel Adesanya won the middleweight title back in October at UFC 243 when he knocked out Robert Whittaker. Before that, he captured the interim strap with a decision win over Kelvin Gastelum.
Yoel Romero, meanwhile, lost to Paulo Costa at UFC 241 last time out. Before that, he dropped a decision to Robert Whittaker after knocking out Luke Rockhold.
Adesanya vs. Romero is expected to be the main event with Weili Zhang defending her belt vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk as the co-main event.
