LOS ANGELES – Yoel Romero doesn’t want to feel the heartbreak of another close decision loss in the UFC 248 main event with Israel Adesanya. So he’s come up with a solution.
Romero (13-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC), who challenges Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) for the middleweight belt in Saturday’s headliner, has only lost in the octagon due to the judges. There’s a debate to be had both his defeats to Robert Whittaker, as well as his setback against Paulo Costa, should’ve gone his way.
In what could possibly be his final chance at a belt, Romero, 42, said he his strategy is to avoid the fight going to the scorecards by putting Adesanya to sleep.
“Of course. I’ve got to finish,” Romero told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at a media event Monday in Los Angeles. “I don’t want to go too crazy hard, but I need to finish the fight. Me and my team have the plan to knock him out. When he makes the little one mistake – boom.”
UFC 248 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Romero vs. Adesanya headlines the pay-per-view main card, which follows prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
There is some controversy attached to Romero getting a title shot. He’s dropped back-to-back fights and three of his past four overall. However, Adesanya specifically requested the matchup for his first official title defense, citing “The Solider of God” as his most dangerous threat.
Romero appreciates the sentiment, and pushed back on anyone critical of his opportunity.
“I’m not thinking about that I lost two fights,” Romero said. “I’m not feeling like this. This doesn’t have my attention because we do this like the old school. The best don’t want to fight, but need to fight the best. When (Adesanya) says something like this, I’m not thinking about the record. I’m not thinking about nothing. I just want to fight the best in the division. He said, ‘I want to fight Yoel.’ I say, ‘Thank you.’ Because that’s exactly what we do. I stay in the same position with him.
“I don’t want to fight with No. 10 in the rankings. I want to fight with the next in line – the No. 1 in the line. That’s why I stay here. I don’t stay here because nobody give me nothing. I work a lot – very hard. I won the (Paulo Costa) fight, the (Robert) Whittaker No. 2 fight. It is what it is – that’s what happened.”
As of Monday, Romero can be found listed as much as a +240 betting underdog. He said he embraces that position, though, and intends to prove the doubters wrong – and more important – his supporters right.
“I love it,” Romero said. “Believe me – I love it.”
Yoel Romero says one Israel Adesanya mistake at UFC 248 means: 'Boom'