''UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero'' was a
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
event produced by the
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
that took place on March 7, 2020 at the
T-Mobile Arena
T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Anschutz En ...
in
Paradise, Nevada
Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...
, part of the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Area
The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is ...
, United States.
[ ]
Background
A
UFC Middleweight Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.
Historical notes
At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...
bout between the current champion
Israel Adesanya
Israel Mobolaji Odunayo Oluwafemi Temitayo Owolabi Adesanya (born 22 July 1989) is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and former boxer with multiple championships in all three disciplines. As a mixed martial artist, h ...
and former interim title challenger (as well as
2000 Olympic silver medalist and former world champion in
freestyle wrestling
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...
)
Yoel Romero
Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for Bellator MMA. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division ...
headlined the event.
A
UFC Women's Strawweight Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.
Historical notes
At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...
bout between the current champion
Zhang Weili
Zhang Weili (; born August 13, 1989) is a Chinese mixed martial artist. She is the former Kunlun Fight (KLF) strawweight champion and competes in the strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current ...
and former champion
Joanna Jędrzejczyk
Joanna Jędrzejczyk (; born August 18, 1987) is a Polish former professional mixed martial artist and Muay Thai kickboxer. She has been called the greatest female strawweight mixed martial artist of all time, including by Daniel Cormier, who cred ...
took place as the co-main event.
A middleweight bout between former champion
Robert Whittaker (also
The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) and
Jared Cannonier
Jared Cannonier (born March 16, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently fights in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of November 15, 2022, he is #3 in the UFC middleweight ran ...
was expected to take place at this event. However, it was announced on January 15 that Whittaker pulled out of the bout. Subsequently, promotion officials announced that Cannonier would be on standby in the event that one of the main event participants were to pull out of that contest. In turn, Cannonier indicated in mid-February that he had suffered a torn pectoral injury while training and would be sidelined for several months.
A bantamweight bout between
Sean O'Malley and
The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America bantamweight winner
José Alberto Quiñónez
José Alberto Quiñónez Navarro (born July 28, 1990) is a Mexican mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. He was one of the cast members in The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 1, The Ultimate Fighter UFC TV reality show ...
was originally scheduled to take place at
UFC 229
''UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor ''was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that was held on October 6, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas–Paradise, ...
. However, it was scrapped after O'Malley failed a
United States Anti-Doping Agency
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...
(USADA) drug test. The bout was then expected to take place at
UFC 247
''UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 8, 2020 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States.
Background
A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship ...
, but it was eventually moved to this event for unknown reasons.
While not officially announced by the organization, a featherweight bout between
Calvin Kattar
Calvin Kattar (born March 26, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2007, Kattar formerly competed ...
and
Jeremy Stephens
Jeremy Stephens (born May 26, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). A professional since 2005, he spent 15 years and competed in 33 bouts in the UFC ...
was expected to take place at the event. However, Stephens was removed from the card in mid-January with an injury. The pairing was left intact and rescheduled for
UFC 249
''UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 9, 2020 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was originally planned to ...
.
A featherweight bout between
Douglas Silva de Andrade
Douglas Silva de Andrade (born June 22, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Background
Silva de Andrade grew up in Castanhal, ...
and
Movsar Evloev
Movsar Evloev (born February 11, 1994) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who is currently competing in the featherweight division of the UFC. A professional since 2014, he has also competed at M-1 Global, where he is the former bantamweight ch ...
was scheduled to take place at the event. However, de Andrade withdrew from the bout due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer
Jamall Emmers
Jamall Leantwean Emmers (born July 24, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Background
Emmers transitioned to MMA from a high school and college wr ...
.
[ ] Subsequently, Evloev pulled out of the fight in late February citing injuries sustained in a road accident. He was replaced by
Giga Chikadze
Giga Chikadze ( Georgian: გიგა ჭიკაძე, born 25 August 1988) is a Georgian mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Chikadze fo ...
.
[ ]
A middleweight bout between
Derek Brunson
Derek Brunson (born January 4, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of September 5, 2022, he is #5 in the UFC middleweight ran ...
and
Edmen Shahbazyan
Edmen Shahbazyan (born November 20, 1997) is an American mixed martial artist competing in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Background
Edmen Shahbazyan fights out of Glendale, California. His older brother, ...
was scheduled to take place at the event. However, it was announced on February 20 that the bout had moved to
UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris.
At the weigh-ins,
Emily Whitmire
Emily Anne Whitmire (born May 24, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA) who currently competes in the Strawweight division of the Invicta FC. She has previously competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Background
The daug ...
weighed in at 117.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds over the strawweight non-title fight limit of 116 pounds. She was fined 20% of her purse and her bout with
Polyana Viana
Polyana Viana Mota (born 14 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Background
Raised solely by her mother, Viana grew up in São ...
was expected to proceed as scheduled at a catchweight. However, Whitmire was hospitalized the day of the event and the fight was cancelled.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.
*Fight of the Night: Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk
*Performance of the Night: Beneil Dariush and Sean O’Malley
Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the
Nevada State Athletic Commission
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...
(NSAC). It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $2,086,000.
* Israel Adesanya: $500,000 (no win bonus) def. Yoel Romero: $350,000
* Zhang Weili: $200,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus) def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk: $106,000
* Beneil Dariush: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus) def. Drakkar Klose: $40,000
* Neil Magny: $152,000 (includes $76,000 win bonus) def. Li Jingliang: $64,000
* Alex Oliviera: $128,000 (includes $64,000 win bonus) def. Max Griffin: $35,000
* Sean O'Malley: $70,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus) def. José Alberto Quiñónez: $33,000
* Mark Madsen: $66,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus) def. Austin Hubbard: $12,000
* Rodolfo Vieira: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Saparbek Safarov: $22,000
* Gerald Meerschaert: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Deron Winn: $12,000
* Giga Chikadze: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Jamall Emmers: $10,000
* Danaa Batgerel: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Guido Cannetti: $14,000
Aftermath
On September 3, it was announced that the
Nevada State Athletic Commission
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...
(NAC) suspended
Deron Winn
Deron Andrew Winn (born June 13, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler. A professional mixed martial artist since 2017, he formerly competed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Bellator MMA, fighting in th ...
for nine months and fined him fined $1,800 after he tested positive for amphetamines in relation to this event. The suspension is retroactive to the date of the positive test.
See also
*
List of UFC events
This is a list of events held and scheduled by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. UFC's first event, UFC 1, took place on November 12, 1993. Each UFC event contains several fight ...
*
List of current UFC fighters
This list of current UFC fighters records current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters' information, country origins, recent fighter signings and departures, fight schedules and results and the champion of each division. , the UFC roster ...
*
2020 in UFC
The year 2020 was the 28th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
Partnership
Starting in 2021, a partnership between the UFC and Dapper Labs's Flow platform ...
References
{{2020 in mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship events
2020 in mixed martial arts
2020 in sports in Nevada
Mixed martial arts in Las Vegas
Sports competitions in Las Vegas
T-Mobile Arena
March 2020 sports events in the United States
Events in Paradise, Nevada