For the second straight pay-per-view event, and third time in four, the UFC will have multiple titles on the line when it returns home in March.
UFC 248 takes place March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) puts his title on the line against Yoel Romero (13-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC). In the co-feature, women’s strawweight champ Zhang Weili (20-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) takes on former titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC).
Adesanya’s title defense will be his first. He asked for Romero, who has dropped three of his past four fights, all by decision. He’ll challenge for the title despite losing two straight bouts – and despite missing weight in what should’ve been his past two title shots.
Weili beat Jessica Andrade this past August with a 42-second TKO to win the belt in just her fourth UFC fight. It was her 20th straight victory after a loss in her MMA debut. Jedrzejczyk lost the 115-pound title to Rose Namajunas in November 2017, then lost a rematch six months later. She rebounded with a win over Tecia Torres, then moved up to 125 pounds to try for the belt against Valentina Shevchenko. After she fell short, she returned to strawweight and a win over Michelle Waterson was enough to get her a shot with Weili.
Tuesday, the UFC released the official poster for the event featuring the two title fights. Check it out below:
The UFC 248 lineup includes:
Champ Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero – for middleweight title
Champ Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – for women’s strawweight title
Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
Max Griffin vs. Alex Oliveira
Li Jingliang vs. Neil Magny
Sean O’Malley vs. Jose Quinonez
Saparbek Safarov vs. Rodolfo Vieira
Austin Hubbard vs. Mark Madsen
Polyana Viana vs. Emily Whitmire
Danaa Batgerel vs. Guido Cannetti
Beneil Dariush vs. Drakkar Klose
Jared Cannonier vs. TBA
UFC 248's two title fights adorn poster for March show in Las Vegas