Israel Adesanya on UFC 248 fight with Yoel Romero: ‘I’ll make it look easy’

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya doesn’t think Yoel Romero will be his toughest fight yet.

Adesanya will aim to make the first defence of his 185-pound title against Romero in the main event of UFC 248 in March. “The Last Stylebender” had an extremely successful 2019, winning fights against Anderson Silva, Kelvin Gastelum, and eventually knocking out Robert Whittaker to win the title in October.

Talking to Submission Radio, Adesanya discussed why he thinks he will make his upcoming fight with Romero “look easy.”

“I’ve had some tough tests,” Adesanya said. “Right now, I still think Kelvin has been my toughest fight so far physically. Mentally, Anderson has been my toughest fight so far. But we’ll see. That’s yet to be said. I don’t think he’s (Romero) going to be. Like, the way the match is shaping up, I don’t really think he’s going to be. I think he’s going to be quite – not easy, but I’ll make it look easy.

After fellow undefeated middleweight Paulo Costa was sidelined with a bicep injury, questions were raised to who Adesanya would defend his title against first. Romero will get that opportunity despite being on a two-fight losing streak. Adesanya is excited to prove his doubters wrong with the fight against Romero, as he feels people have been itching to see him lose against the accomplished Cuban wrestler ever since he joined the UFC.

“It’s not really about him. They’re not coming to watch him; they’re coming to watch me because they’re hoping he’s the one to take me out because from the get go, from my first UFC fight, all they ever said was, ‘Feed him to Romero,’ and, ‘He’ll take him down and it’s over.’

“That’s what all the casuals have felt, that’s what all the experts have felt, so I just feel like he’s one of those guys. I think he’s one of those guys that he’s – I mean, he scares Darren Till. I don’t see it, but yeah, he’s the guy that scares a lot of people, and no one’s asked to fight him, so I’m doing something different.”