UFC 248 - Breakdown & Predictions
When is UFC 248? Sunday 8th March, 2020 - 01:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC 248? T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada
What channel is UFC 248 on? BT Sport 2
Where can I stream UFC 248? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ which can you sign up to here!
Are tickets still available for UFC 248? https://www.ufc.com/tickets
Israel Adesanya vs Yoel Romero
Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has picked out ‘The Soldier of God’, who is coming off two losses, for his first title defence, but Yoel Romero defies convention.
Adesanya unified his interim title by putting on the best performance of his career in knocking out the champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in Melbourne. He outclassed the talented Aussie from start to finish and displayed that knockout power we had not seen since he put away Derek Brunson in 2018. Now, promising to be one of the greats of the sport he has called out Romero who, despite coming off two losses and at the ripe old age of 42, many agree is still one of the toughest challenges in the division.
Romero has in fact lost three out of his last four including a decision in a war with Whittaker, but he bounced back in vintage fashion by folding Luke Rockhold like laundry and then taking his soul with another left hand. After that he met Whittaker again for the title, losing another decision, and then suffered another decision loss to Paulo Costa. However, these decisions could have gone either way, especially the split decision with Whittaker in the rematch.
PREDICTION
If there was ever a time for Romero to call upon his Olympic-level wrestling it is now. Adesanya is one of the best strikers in the sport and will boast a six and a half reach advantage accentuated by his six-inch height advantage. He will hope Romero continues to back his striking and keep the fight standing.
Romero is famously dangerous when he conserves his energy and explodes with unholy power, power that can easily topple Adesanya if he catches him clean, but ‘The Last Stylebender’ will prepare for this and look to counter with devastating accuracy.
Romero can disrupt the flow of Adesanya with level changes, and mixing in takedown attempts with combinations, but Adesanya has the skill and range to hurt Romero continually. The Cuban’s chin should keep him in the fight until the bell which will make this a tense battle.
Winner: Adesanya via Decision
Weili Zhang vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk
The first championship fight of the night features Chinese sensation Weili Zhang who defends the crown that Joanna Jedrzejczyk kept clean for over two years.
Zhang only appeared on the UFC scene back in August 2018, where she outpointed Danielle Taylor on her debut and then went on to submit Jessica Aguilar but it was after her decision win over Tecia Torres that people began to take notice. At this point she was riding a monster 19-fight win streak and finally proved she can hang at the top of the division. Zhang was then awarded a title shot on home soil against the new champion Jessica Andrade. Everything was set up perfectly for her and she did not disappoint – ruthlessly putting Andrade away in the first round with a flurry of knees and punches.
What a first assignment for Zhang - taking on the most dominant champion in strawweight history. After five title defences Jedrzejczyk lost the belt to Rose Namajunas and failed to avenge that in the rematch. She got back in the winning column with a decision win over Torres but then met the assassin Valentina Shevchenko up at flyweight for the vacant title. She was outclassed in the end but bounced back with another decision win over Michelle Waterson and now she has the chance to recapture the title that became a huge part of her identity.
PREDICTION
Zhang is as dangerous as it gets in the strawweight division. She is a powerhouse of an athlete with the technique to match and is improving so drastically we can expect another breath-taking performance.
However, the key factor on paper is that Zhang has never gone past 15 minutes and Jedrzejczyk excels in the championship rounds. If Jedrzejczyk can stay out of trouble for the first two rounds and avoid the power of Zhang, whether that be punches, kicks or her clinch, she can exploit any holes Zhang’s gas tank may have.
If they get into the third round expect Jedrzejczyk to up the output and wear Zhang down with technical combinations to snatch a decision.
Winner: Jedrzejczyk via Decision
Beneil Dariush vs Drakkar Klose
The second lightweight scrap of the night takes place between exciting talents Beneil Dariush and Drakkar Klose.
Dariush makes his 17th UFC appearance and has compiled a 11-4-1 record, which is very respectable, but to break the top ranks of the stacked lightweight division you need impeccable winning streaks. Dariush has all of the tools and big scalps of the likes of Rocco Martin, Carlos Diego Ferreira, Jim Miller and Michael Johnson and, after two brutal knockout losses to Edson Barboza and Alexander Hernandez sandwiching a draw against Evan Dunham, Dariush has strung three impressive wins together; outpointing Thiago Moises before submitting Drew Dober and Frank Camacho.
Klose only has one loss on his blossoming record, to David Teymur back in 2017. This was after winning his first two UFC fights and since his loss he is also on an impressive three-fight winning streak, earning classy unanimous decisions over Lando Vannata, Bobby Green and Christos Giagos.
PREDICTION
Klose is a tough fight for the majority of the division right now and this should be a tight and gritty contest. However, Dariush’s experience should pay dividends as the fight progresses.
This should be an even contest starting on the feet and if Dariush can get the better of the exchanges, wear Klose down, and get him on his back, his elite jiu-jitsu should finish the job.
Winner: Dariush via Submission
Neil Magny vs Li Jingliang
The first of two Chinese beasts on the card features Li Jingliang who is looking to continue his blistering form as he welcomes back Neil Magny after 15 months out.
The last time we saw Magny was back in November 2018 at UFC Fight Night 140 where he suffered a brutal knockout at the hands of Santiago Ponzinibbio. That snapped a two-fight win streak which included a unanimous decision over Carlos Condit and a brilliant knockout of Craig White, serving up a vicious knee for his UFC debut.
Jingliang has been in scintillating form, losing only once in his last eight fights. That was a decision to Jake Matthews but he has strung three impressive wins together since by outpointing Daichi Abe and then knocking out David Zawada and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, who was riding a seven-fight win streak at the time.
PREDICTION
Magny has the experience but Jingliang is in his prime. Jingliang can call upon his grappling but is expected to rely on his striking, especially considering his success in his last two outings.
Magny’s experience and range will make it difficult for the Chinese but Jingliang is expected to close the distance with kicks and explosive combinations to hunt the damaged chin of Magny and he will be unable to sustain too much of Jingliang’s power.
Winner: Jingliang via KO/TKO
Alex Oliveira vs Max Griffin
Two welterweights desperate for a win kick off the main card as Alex Oliveira and Max Griffin look to bounce back from losses.
Oliveira is coming off three losses in fact, completely foreign territory for the veteran. After efficiently submitting Carlos Condit and knocking out Carlo Pedersoli Jr, Oliveira met Gunnar Nelson. There he suffered a gruesome cut courtesy of an Icelandic elbow before Nelson slipped in a rear-naked choke to finish the Brazilian. He then suffered two more losses – a split decision to Mike Perry and a unanimous decision against Nicolas Dalby.
Griffin is also coming off a unanimous decision loss. After a split decision win over Zelim Imadaev he lost to Alex Morono which has taken his UFC record to 3-5. Griffin has struggled to make inroads in the division and must feel another loss could be fatal to his UFC career so he will need to pull off one of his best performances to get past Oliveira.
PREDICTION
Griffin is a very tough and technical fighter but if Oliveira shows up he should have too much for the American in every area. He has the grappling to shut him down and the jiu-jitsu to wrap up a submission and this is likely to be won on the feet and finished on the ground.
Griffin will go toe-to-toe with Oliveira on the feet but if the Brazilian can hurt Griffin and can get him to the floor, he can pull off a late finish with ground-and-pound, or even a submission.
Winner: Oliveira via KO/TKO
Striking and grappling stats sourced via FightMetric.