LAS VEGAS – The MMA community can now breathe a sigh of relief. Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero is official.
The two middleweights made the 185-pound limit required to compete in a championship bout during Friday’s UFC 248 official weigh-ins. Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who defends his title for the first time, weighed in at 184.5 pound, while Romero (13-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) hit the mark at 185.
Romero has struggled with making weight in the past, and there were concerns on whether or not he would make the limit for UFC 248 and be eligible to compete for the title. However, struggles that cost him two shots before were not present. And when Romero stepped on the scale, he made sure to let his doubters know.
“How many years!? how many years!?” Romero yelled while banging his chest.
Adesanya is unbeaten in his MMA career. The Nigerian fighter picked up the middleweight title in October, knocking out then champ Robert Whittaker to unify the titles.
Meanwhile, Romero is coming off a controversial split decision loss to Paulo Costa. Although there’s no doubt Romeo is a force to be reckoned with in the division, many questioned the merits of him getting a shot at Adesayana, who asked to face the Cuban fighter. Romero is 1-3 in his last four bouts.
UFC 248 takes place Saturday night at T-Mobile arena. The preliminary card streams on ESPN+ and later moves to ESPN. The pay-per-view main card can be seen exclusively on ESPN+.
