UFC 248 Fight Card: PPV Schedule, Odds and Predictions for Adesanya vs. Romero
The UFC 248 main event between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero is a fight fan's dream.
Adesanya continues to show he's a transcendent talent in the Octagon, and his flashy style is proving to bring the steak, sizzle and some sauce for good measure. Romero, on the other hand, has long been the division's boogeyman who hasn't quite been able to reach champion status.
It's a clash of styles, body types and approaches to the fight game.
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In short, if this were the only fight on the card, it would still sell some pay-per-views.
The card also features a women's strawweight title fight between champion Weili Zhang and former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Zhang is making her first title defense since winning the strap against Jessica Andrade in under a minute.
Here's a look at the full offerings for the evening and some of the biggest questions of the night.
UFC 248 Fight Card
Main Card (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET)
- Israel Adesanya (c) -280 (wager $280 to win $100) vs. Yoel Romero +230 (wager $100 to win $230) (middleweight championship)
- Weili Zhang (c) -190 vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk +160 (women's strawweight championship)
- Beneil Dariush -170 vs. Drakkar Klose +140
- Li Jingliang -180 vs. Neil Magny +150
- Alex Oliveira -150 vs. Max Griffin +120
Preliminaries (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET)
- Sean O'Malley -350 vs. Jose Quinonez +275
- Mark Madsen -220 vs. Austin Hubbard +180
- Rodolfo Vieira -850 vs. Saparbek Safarov +550
- Deron Winn -150 vs. Gerald Meerschaert +120
Early Prelims (ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)
- Jamall Emmers -165 vs. Giga Chikadze +135
- Danaa Batgerel -145 vs. Guido Cannetti +115
Odds via Caesars Palace
Can Romero Stand with Adesanya?
Sometimes there's a misconception about Yoel Romero. Because of his Olympic wrestling background, it's often assumed his grappling is a big part of his game, but it really isn't.
For instance, in Romero's last title fight, he took down Robert Whittaker three times in five rounds. In all of those takedowns, he landed 20 significant strikes on the ground, per UFC Stats. That's roughly six-to-seven strikes every time he took down the champ.
That's enough to change the complexion of a fight, but it isn't enough to consider Romero a true threat to take Adesanya down and hold him there for the bulk of the fight. That's not the Cuban's game.
Instead, he'll use the threat of the takedown to set up his striking or as a change of pace when the fight isn't going well for him.
So that puts Romero's striking skills against Adesanya's, and that's where things get dicey for the challenger. Adesanya can turn this into a high-paced kickboxing match that doesn't play to Romero's strengths. He'd much rather fight in short bursts of violence than a drawn-out, high-volume affair.
If the champion can control the tempo of the fight, his chances of winning will rocket. Over the course of five rounds, he'll win enough of the exchanges to defend his belt.
Prediction: Adesanya via decision
Can Zhang Live up to the Moment?
There's no question this is the biggest fight of Weili Zhang's career. She's only fought four times in the UFC, and her championship fight was in her home country of China on an ESPN+ card.
Now, her first title defense will be on a pay-per-view card in Las Vegas as the co-main event. It's a big jump up in atmosphere and environment. For many, this will be their first time catching the champion in action.
It's a lot of pressure, and facing a formidable foe in the former champion doesn't make it any easier. Zhang has only been the distance in a three-round fight three times. Now she could be forced to go five.
These are all questions she faces heading into the night, but the reality is she might not even get a chance to answer them—especially ones considering the championship rounds.
Zhang is a finisher, which is why she hasn't seen many three-round fights. Jedrzejczyk is not, with 11 of her 16 career wins coming by decision.
The champion is going to be unafraid of Jedrzejcyk's aggression and kickboxing. She has the power advantage and should be bold enough to go strike-for-strike with the challenger. If that's the way this fight plays out, she will defend the belt.
Prediction: Zhang via second-round TKO
Can Klose Play with Fire and Get Away With It?
Drakkar Klose is not the most fan-friendly fighter. He's an old-school grinder who's going to put his opponent against the fence, break his will and completely nullify his attempt to do anything other than constantly defend Klose's transitions.
That game plan works wonders against strikers. The Lando Vannata types who Klose has defeated in his career don't have an answer for that.
Beneil Dariush will. The 30-year-old's high-level jiu-jitsu and submission game are what set him apart from Klose's previous opponents. The Iranian American has scored eight submission wins in his career, including his last two.
Klose will be forced to proceed with caution if he's going to grapple with his opponent here. Both grapplers could opt to go with their striking games because they respect each other's ground proficiency, and the result would be a boring affair.
Klose kind of specializes in those, though. His willingness to clinch up and turn this into a slog could be the deciding factor.
Prediction: Klose via decision
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