The last time T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas hosted a major fight, it was an epic Tyson Fury knockout of champion Deontay Wilder in a boxing ring. This Saturday it will be an Octagon in the arena for UFC 248, which is highlighted by a middleweight bout between unbeaten champion Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero. The main card overall starts at 10pm ET on pay-per-view.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The 30-year-old Adesanya (18-0), from Nigeria, didn’t get his first title fight despite a gaudy record until UFC 236 in April 2019 when he beat Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision for the interim middleweight crown. Adesanya next fought then-champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 and knocked him out in the second round so this is technically Adesanya’s first title defense.
Don’t expect Adesanya to win on the ground as he has zero submission victories, while 14 of his 18 are by knockout or TKO. Adesanya is 7-0 since joining the UFC and his first fight in the organization was on the undercard of Romero vs. Luke Rockhold at UFC 221.