Two UFC belts are up for grabs this coming Saturday, March 7, 2020, at UFC 248 which will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the main event, UFC middleweight champion Israel “Last Stylebender” Adesanya will make his first title defense against former two-time challenger Yoel “Soldier Of God” Romero. UFC women’s strawweight champion Zhang “Magnum” Weili defends her belt for the first time against former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event of the evening. Veterans Beneil Dariush, Neil Magny, and Alex Oliveira face separate opponents in the fight card.
Let’s take a look at the bouts on the main card of UFC 248 and preview them for your betting use. And remember you can find the betting odds for this event in any of our safest MMA betting sites. Check them out:
Israel Adesanya is the reigning UFC middleweight champion from New Zealand. The Last Stylebender defeated Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 to win the interim UFC middleweight championship and knocked out Robert Whitaker at UFC 243 to become the undisputed champion. Adesanya is a former Glory Tournament champion and King of the Ring Cruiserweight and Heavyweight champion. He is currently the 6th ranked fighter in the UFC’s pound for pound list. Adesanya is 18-0 with 14 knockouts. He stands 6-4 tall with a reach of 80 inches and is a switch-hitter.
Yoel Romero is the 3rd ranked middleweight in the UFC. The 42-year old Cuban is a former Olympic wrestling silver medalist and a world championship gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. The Soldier of God challenged twice for the interim UFC middleweight title and lost both times to Robert Whitaker and Luke Rockhold. Romero is 13-4 with 11 knockouts and he has lost three out of his last four bouts. He stands 6-0 tall with a reach of 73 inches and fights as a southpaw.
Adesanya is an elite striker who has excellent kickboxing skills and fights very long with laser-like jabs and crisp kicks. He also possesses tremendous reflexes and reads his opponent’s offense well. The Last Stylebender can dodge strikes with his ability to maintain distance and counters them nicely with his strikes. He is often described as a younger, more athletic, and more powerful version of Anderson Silva. Because of all these, he’s outstruck all seven opponents he has faced in the UFC. However, because of his punching power, he’s also earned impressive stoppages including one over then-champion Robert Whitaker.
Aside from his offense, Adesanya also possesses excellent takedown defense at 85%. This is key in this fight because while Romero is an explosive fighter, the Cuban is an Olympic wrestler who might take Adesanya down to the mat to neutralize his striking prowess. The Soldier of God has 11 knockouts in 13 wins but while he has genuine knockout power, his offense comes in spurts and that is going to be to his disadvantage against Adesanya who is always firing at his opponents. I think Adesanya plays this one safe. He will fight Romero from a distance and pick the Cuban apart with his long-range striking. I think Romero will try to end this early but Adesanya should be able to avoid getting bull-rushed. The champion dissects Romero like a surgeon and wins by decision.
PREDICTION: ISRAEL ADESANYA
Zhang Weili is the current UFC women’s strawweight champion. The 30-year old from Hebei, China is the first-ever UFC champion from China and East Asia and is #3 in the UFC’s women’s pound for pound list. Zhang is the former Top FC strawweight champion and KLF strawweight champion. She has a record of 20-1 with 10 knockouts and 7 wins by submission. Zhang is 5-4 tall with a reach of 63 inches and is a switch hitter.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is the former UFC women’s strawweight champion and is currently the 4th ranked strawweight in the promotion today. She is a former kickboxing world champion who won five world titles and is also a former six-time world champion in Muay Thai. She won the UFC strawweight belt in 2015 and successfully defended it five times before losing to Rose Namajunas at UFC 217. Joanna has a record of 16-3 with four knockouts and one win by submission. She stands 5-6 tall with a reach of 65 inches and is an orthodox fighter.
Zhang has won 20 consecutive bouts since losing her professional debut. This includes her knockout win over Jessica Andrade last year which made her the first Asian to win a UFC title. Magnum is a powerful striker who is aggressive and has a high fight IQ. When her opponents decide to slug it out, she is very willing to stand and trade because of her power. She has landed at least one takedown in four fights before her title-winning bout. She didn’t have to take Andrade down to the mat because she knocked the Brazilian out in 42 seconds.
Zhang is in for a tough fight against the former champion Jedrzejczyk who is out to regain her old bet. Jedrzejczyk is one of the best strikers of all-time and is a very high-output striker who has excellent strike defense. She is the much better technical striker between the two but I do not think that she has the punching power to hurt or knock out the champion. I think this will be a stand-up battle with both women landing their big shots. However, I think the younger and stronger lady wins this bout.
PREDICTION: ZHANG WEILI
Beneil Dariush is a former Respect In the Cage lightweight champion who was also a former Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu no-gi world champion at blue, purple, and brown belts. Dariush won eight out of his first 10 UFC bouts but is just 3-2-1 in his last six matches. He has won his last three bouts though and is coming off a submission win over Frank Camacho. Dariush is 17-4 with three knockouts and eight submission wins. He stands 5-10 tall with a reach of 72 inches and is a southpaw fighter.
Drakkar Klose is a veteran of the World Fighting Federation and Resurrection Fighting Alliance who signed with the UFC in 2016. The 31-year old from Michigan stands 5-9 with a reach of 70 inches and is an orthodox fighter. Klose was undefeated in his first nine bouts and is 5-1 inside the UFC octagon. Overall, he has a record of 11-1 with four knockouts. Klose defeated Christos Giagos in his last fight at UFC 241.
Both fighters are riding high on a three-bout winning streak. Dariush confuses his opponents with a mix of good kicks from low to high. These kicks leave his opponents off-balance and lead to opportunities for Dariush to land his hand strikes. If he doesn’t get his striking going, he can turn to his grappling game which averages 1.77 takedowns landed per 15 minutes. He also has a good submission game with 8 submissions in 17 victories. The problem with Dariush is that he tends to drop his hands which leaves him open for counters from the top. On the other hand, Klose is an aggressive stalker who waits for his opportunity to let his hands fly. However, there are times when he waits too much and there are instances when he gets a little wild when he throws his punches. These mistakes often lead to him getting taken down to the mat or clinched against the fence. Dariush is the better overall fighter here. He’ll try to win on his feet and if he gets into trouble, he’s going to make this a grinding fight on the ground.
PREDICTION: BENEIL DARIUSH
Neil Magny was an alumnus of the 16th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The 32-year old from Brooklyn fought for C3, Hoosier Fight Club, and Combat USA before joining the UFC in 2013. He won seven fights in a row from 2014-2015 before losing to Demian Maia at UFC 190. Magny has a record of 21-7 with seven knockouts and three wins by submission. He has notable wins over Kelvin Gastelum, Hector Lombard, Johny Hendricks, and Carlos Condit. Magny stands 6-3 with an 80-inch reach.
Li Jiangling competed in Chinese wrestling and trained in Sanda before making a career in MMA. He fought for Legend FC and won the organization’s welterweight title at Legend FC 11. He is 9-3 inside the octagon and has an overall record of 17-5 with seven wins by knockouts and five wins by submission. He is an orthodox fighter who stands six feet tall and has a reach of 71 inches. Five out of his last seven wins have been by knockout.
Magny is long for this division at 6-2 with a reach of 80 inches. He takes advantage of his reach by throwing crisp jabs which he uses to set up his big punches. If his striking doesn’t work, Magny turns to his grappling game which completes an average of 2.62 takedowns per 15 minutes. On the other hand, Li fights more aggressively than the American but overextends when he throws his big punches and often leaves himself open for the big counter punch. Li has terrific power and he has never been knocked down before. I think Magny wins this fight by keeping Li at bay with his long-distance strikes.
PREDICTION: NEAL MAGNY
Alex Oliveira fought in the regional promotions in Brazil before he joined the UFC in 2015. Cowboy won seven out of his first 10 fights with only two losses. He’s lost four out of his last six bouts and has dropped three straight contests. The 32-year old Brazilian stands 5-11 tall and has a reach of 76 inches and is an orthodox fighter. His record is 19-8 with 12 knockouts and four wins by submission.
Max Griffin fought for Tachi Palace Fights and was the welterweight champion in that promotion. The 34-year old from Santa Barbara, California was a contestant at The Ultimate Fighter 16. He has one win in his last four fights and is coming off a loss to Alex Morono at UFC Fight Night 161. Griffin stands 6-0 tall with a reach of 76 inches. He has a record of 15-7 with seven knockouts and two wins via submission.
Oliveira almost always wants a phone booth battle and he likes to get in the face of his opponents, enticing them to stand and trade. Recently though, he has been tentative to start a brawl and has been content to wait for an opportunity to counter. That has led to him being outstruck in his last two fights, all losses. Griffin doesn’t sit down on his punches and he doesn’t throw with much power. Those aren’t going to work well against an aggressive striker like Cowboy Oliveira.
PREDICTION: ALEX OLIVEIRA
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