‘Last Stylebender’ hopes to become first to stop Romero

Fans of Mixed Martial Arts will be licking their lips at the prospect of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 248, which will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, Unites States on the morning of Sunday 8 March.

The headline bout for UFC 247 is a battle for the Middleweight Championship between Israel Adesanya (18-0-0) and Yoel Romero (13-4-0). Nigerian-born Adesanya, known as "The Last Stylebender", is making his first defence as full middleweight champion, having unified the division with a KO victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in Mebourne, Australia last October.

The 30-year-old boasts an unbeaten record in professional MMA and is supremely confident that he will overcome Romero, who has lost three of his last four fights and is arguably lucky to have the chance to challenge for the title. However, the Cuban has never been stopped in his career and Adesanya hopes to become the first man to achieve the feat.

"This is the biggest fight of my career thus far,” explained Stylebender, who added, “I want to be the first man to stop him properly."

Adesanya also courted controversy with the following remarks: "He's human like anyone else... I'll touch him enough times. I'll touch him enough times, and eventually he'll crumble like the Twin Towers," he said in reference to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, where almost 3 000 people died. The fighter has since apologised for those comments.

UFC fans will also be treated to the co-main event of the night, which sees the Women’s Strawweight Championship on the line when Weili Zhang (20-1-0) takes on Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3-0). Zhang is on a 20-match winning streak and making the first defence of the title she won with a TKO over Jessica Andrade back in August last year.

The following fights also feature on the main card: Beneil Dariush (17-4-1) v Drakkar Klose (11-1-1) in the Lightweight division; as well as Neil Magny (21-7-0) v Li Jingliang (17-5-0) and Alex Oliveira (19-8-1, 2 NC) v Max Griffin (15-7-0) – both in the Welterweight division.

UFC 248 – Main Card

Main event: Middleweight Championship: Israel Adesanya (18-0-0) v Yoel Romero (13-4-0)

Co-main event: Women’s Strawweight Championship: Weili Zhang (20-1-0) v Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3-0)

Lightweight: Beneil Dariush (17-4-1) v Drakkar Klose (11-1-1)

Welterweight: Neil Magny (21-7-0) v Li Jingliang (17-5-0)

Welterweight: Alex Oliveira (19-8-1, 2 NC) v Max Griffin (15-7-0)