UFC 248: Israel Adesanya Retains Title, Beats Yoel Romero by Unanimous Decision

Israel Adesanya successfully defended his middleweight title with a unanimous-decision win over Yoel Romero in Las Vegas.

The game was part of the main event of UFC 248. The Nigerian born UFC fighter got the win in a bizarre, uneventful affair as both fighters were mostly playing it safe.

The win increases Adesanya’s undefeated runs to 19-0 and solidifies himself as the best middleweight on the planet.

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With this success, the 30-year-old New Zealander has added one of the scariest fighters in the division to his list. Others already on his list are Anderson Silva, Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum.

Adesanya, who made his UFC debut in February 2018 has skyrocketed to impressive champion in 2020.

With the look of things, he might likely turn his focus to other challengers in the middleweight division.  It’s, however, looking like he has set his sights on an even bigger picture.

Speaking on the Submission Radio (h/t Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie), Adesanya’s coach, Eugene Bareman, noted that the middleweight division has more than one contender, adding that the champion should beat all contenders moving beyond his division.

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“There’s some really tough challenges. He should clear those out. There are at least three or four more good challenges. But three or four more fights for Israel is like, maybe within this year. So after that, what’s the next challenge?”

“Still, his vision goes beyond those challenges. Paulo Costa and/or Jared Cannonier might be intriguing matchups, but Adesanya hasn’t shied away from beef with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and Bareman even mentioned Adesanya eventually moving up to heavyweight.

“Those are obviously big, transcendent goals. He has the potential to capture the imagination of MMA fandom in a way few fighters have been able to. But it all starts with picking up big wins in his own division like he did against Romero in Vegas.”

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