Israel Adesanya beats Yoel Romero to Retain Middleweight Title. Israel “Stylebender” Adesanya retained his UFC middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over Olympic wrestling medallist Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero at UFC 248 in Las Vegas.
The fight was cagey and chess-like but devoid of the excitement expected of the calibre of such UFC elite fighters.
This fight was Adesanya’s first defence since defeating Australian Robert Whittaker in Melbourne last year.
Unusual Fight Approach in the Octagon
Yoel Romero’s approach could best be described as unusual and weird given that he stood still at the middle of the Octagon holding a high guard. He clearly was not showing any willingness to engage in the first round.
The second round was a bit better than the first round, as Adesanya scored points with some powerful leg kicks with Romero fewer points with sporadic attacks.
The Sydney 2000 Olympic Wrestling Silver Medallist’s bizarre fighting style puzzled Adesanya, who struggled to find any openings through the first two rounds.
The Fans were Unimpressed with Israel Adesanya
The judges’ scorecards showed 48-47, 48-47, 49-46, which unanimously favored Israel Adesanya. However, the fans were unimpressed with the star champion’s performance as he was consistently booed.
The champion was jeered during the post-fight interview.
Adesanya responded, “It was a hard fight but, cliche, I did what I had to do. I picked him apart. The legs don’t lie.”
“He plays the game in lulls. He tries to get you into a false sense of security. My coaches said I need 25 minutes of sharpness, but engaging with someone who doesn’t want to dance is hard. I touched him up. And still.”
Asked whether he had any concerns about the judges potentially scoring the fight for Romero, Adesanya said: “As long as they didn’t listen to the crowd, I was fine.”
Fan’s Favourite – Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero
The crowd cheered A frustrated Romero after the fight and, pointing to the fans, claimed “this is my victory” before criticizing Adesanya for not engaging with him during the fight.
“He was running and running and running. That’s not a champion,” Romero said.
“The people pay because they want to see a good fight. Not this. You need to respect the people. They pay for a fight, not for running.”
This is bizarre and unexpected given the fact that it was Yoel Romero who frustrated Adesanya and disengaged.
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A Man of Stardom – Israel Adesanya
Adesanya’s ascent to UFC stardom has been drastic. He made his UFC debut in February 2018 and has skyrocketed to become an impressive champion in 2020.
The 30 years old Nigerian-born New Zealander, Israel Adesanya fighting record now stands at 19-0 and is currently the best UFC Middleweight in the world.
He has defeated experienced and scary fighters such as Kelvin Gastelum, Robert Whittaker, and Anderson Silva.
The fighter will now focus on other challengers in the middleweight division, although he seems to have set his sights on an even bigger picture.
His coach, Eugene Bareman, has acknowledged the middleweight division has more than one contender the champion should beat before looking beyond his division.
Paulo Costa and Jared Cannonier might be exciting matchups soon. Adesanya may also move up to face the light heavyweight champion Jon Jones or may eventually move up to the heavyweight division.
