Israel Adesanya is out to shock the world anew when he meets Yoel Romero on the first official defence of his undisputed middleweight title.
The Kiwi-Nigerian fighter will headline the UFC 248 fight card on March 7 at the T-mobile Arena opposite the Cuban powerhouse in what many considered as the toughest test of his career.
Though some fans raised their eyebrows on the pairing, with Romero coming off a two-fight losing skid, Adesanya is happy with the opportunity to face the Olympic silver medalist.
“It was hard to sell it to [the UFC] because they were like, we can’t give a title shot to a guy who’s had numerous title shots, who’s been known for little vet moves or cheating “AKA”, and he’s just a guy that they didn’t think they could sell it but I told them I’d sell it,” Adesanya recently said when speaking to Submission Radio.
Not Scary
Now that his status as one of the biggest stars in the UFC is cemented, Adesanya is confident the title fight will be a blockbuster, saying fans will come to watch him.
“I’d be the one to put it on. Because he’s the guy that people had been hoping [would beat me].”
“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.”
‘The Last Stylebender’ also takes pride of being the only fighter to recently call out the ‘Soldier of God.’
“Cause 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.”
Same Story
While some fans are already counting him out against Romero, the middleweight champ said he will make the fight look easy just like what he did against Whittaker.
“I’ve had some tough tests. 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 gonna be. Like, the way the match is shaping up, I don’t really think he’s gonna be. I think he’s gonna be quite… not easy, but I’ll make it look easy.”
“I said that about the Robert fight, cause everyone was counting me out. They said, ‘man, this is it, nah, you can’t f*ck with Robert’, this and that.”
“And I said I’ll make it look easy. And what did I do? I made it look easy. I just feel that way for this one as well.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero)