It’s Las Vegas fight week and the world’s most significant mixed martial arts promotion is heading back to T-Mobile Arena with another highly anticipated fight card.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will defend his title against Yoel Romero in the main event.
The co-main event features another brilliant title fight, with Weili Zhang defending the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship against former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Keep reading for all of the latest betting odds for UFC 248 as well as our prediction for the main event title fight.
UFC 248 Odds
All odds listed are from BetDSI
Main Card
- Israel Adesanya (-278) vs. Yoel Romero (+218)
- Weili Zhang (-169) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (+142)
- Beneil Dariush (-169) vs. Drakkar Klose (+140)
- Li Jingliang (-179) vs. Neil Magny (+148)
- Alex Oliveira (-141) vs. Max Griffin (+118)
Prelims
- Sean O’Malley (-357) vs. Jose Quinonez (+284)
- Austin Hubbard (+174) vs. Mark Madsen (-213)
- Rodolfo Vieira (-714) vs. Saparbek Safarov (+499)
- Deron Winn (-147) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (+123)
- Emily Whitmire (-102) vs. Polyana Viana (-118)
- Giga Chikadze (+153) vs. Jamall Emmers (-192)
- Danaa Batgerel (-141) vs. Guido Cannetti (+118)
Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero
In October last year, Israel Adesanya topped off his outstanding start to his UFC career with a remarkable second-round knockout victory of well-respected champion Robert Whittaker.
Adesanya controlled the action from the starting seconds, swiftly stepping back or away to avoid Whittaker’s blitzes while punishing the Australian with devastating strikes in return.
Now with an 18-fight undefeated career record, Adesanya seemingly has the ability to sit at the top of the middleweight throne for years to come.
His first obstacle, however, is one of gigantic proportions. Adesanya asked to defend his title against the incredibly strong Cuban fighter, Yoel Romero. Romero’s former opponents in Whittaker, Luke Rockhold, and Paulo Costa have all commented on how striking Romero feels like hitting cement.
He’s in elite physical shape at the age of 42 and brings Adesanya a unique challenge in the form of a super-strong, tough wrestler with powerful hands.
But is he worth betting on at the decent odds of +218?
Fight Breakdown
The odds aren’t in his favor, but it would be silly to count out Yoel Romero in this contest.
Romero is explosive, powerful, and has everything that you’d hope to find in someone with a reasonable chance of upsetting the champion. Although there’s a noticeable gap between the overall striking capability of the fighters, it really comes down to the classic situation of how one mistake can be very costly for Adesanya.
It’s a reasonably similar scenario to what the highly anticipated rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder was expected to be. Fury was the much better boxer heading in, but you couldn’t count out the chance of Wilder landing one stopping blow in the 12-round fight. The same rings true at UFC 248 this weekend.
Adesanya will need to be at his best. Being drawn into a slugfest as he was by Kelvin Gastelum isn’t the pathway to victory here against the tough Cuban. Instead, he’ll be hoping to land his shots from a safe distance all night long at UFC 248, sticking his jab and long punches into the face of Romero before finishing combinations with heavy high kicks.
Romero really does need a knockout here. In recent fights, particularly, he hasn’t shown round-winning ability and it’s expected that he’ll fall behind Adesanya on the scorecards after the early rounds. Whether he’ll step it up when needed (much like when facing Luke Rockhold at UFC 221) remains to be seen, but becoming reckless against Adesanya is a recipe for disaster.
Romero is insanely durable and that means that a finish is considered unlikely by the bookmakers. Now 10-3 in the UFC, Romero has never been defeated inside the distance and all but two of his wins came by stoppage.
Unfortunately for Adesanya, that means for as long as Romero can pressure and look to capitalize on counter-punching opportunities, he’s still in the fight.
Taking Romero to a decision would seem like the smart gameplan heading into this contest, but then again, who genuinely wants to be in the cage with Romero for five rounds. Ideally, Adesanya and his head coach Eugene Bareman will be banking on Adesanya somehow getting Romero out of there as early as possible.
Lastly, the wrestling is at play in this fight, as well. Romero’s wrestling is high-level, but it’s rare to see him secure top control and really work from the position. Also, Adesanya’s defensive wrestling is at the level now where it should be enough to help frame and keep this one as a striking contest.
We’re predicting Adesanya to finish Romero in round four. Accumulation of damage could lead to trouble for Romero, especially as the fight progresses, and a clean head kick or a series of nasty punches could send him home early.
Prediction: Israel Adesanya by KO/TKO – Round 4
Bet: Fight doesn’t go to decision (-150)
Bet explainer: We’re cashing in on both sides here with the small chance of a Romero finish adding value to our expectation of Adesanya becoming the first to stop Romero inside the distance in the UFC.
Read More:
- Beginner’s Guide to UFC Betting
- What’s different between weight classes in the UFC?
- 5 MMA Betting Experts Talk UFC Gambling Strategies, Advice, and Best Tips
- The 5 Most Shocking Upsets in UFC Title Fight History
Jake is a mixed martial arts reporter from Australia. At WagerBop, he merges his appreciation of combat sports and a strong passion for analytics to uncover opportunities for readers.
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