UFC 248: Yoel Romero must first beat the scale before he can aim for middleweight glory

Olympic medalist has missed weight twice in title fights, but says he's ready to dethrone Kiwi superstar Israel Adesanya

Yoel Romero during UFC 248 open workouts at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Getty Images

Cuban wrestling powerhouse Yoel Romero's recent form may not exactly be stellar, but circumstances have led him to his fourth UFC title fight. And, after falling short on his three previous occasions, Romero is looking to prove the doubters wrong by first making weight, then dethroning one of the fastest-rising stars in the UFC, reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, this weekend at UFC 248.

Romero, 42, captured Olympic silver in freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games in Sydney back in 2000, and enjoyed a decorated career on the wrestling mat before transitioning his skills to mixed martial arts in 2009.

Since then, he has amassed a 13-4 record, with knockout wins over former UFC champions Lyoto Machida, Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold helping him rise to the sharp end of the UFC's 185-pound middleweight division.

But that key number, 185, twice proved to be Romero's undoing as he missed weight for two of the most important fights of his career.

Romero's first title opportunity came in an interim title fight against Australia's Robert Whittaker at UFC 213. But, despite playing his part in a Fight of the Night contest in Las Vegas, Romero lost out on the scorecards.

His next outing saw him challenge for the interim title again, this time against former undisputed champ Rockhold at UFC 221. While he delivered a show-stopping performance to knock Rockhold out cold in the third round in Perth, Australia, Romero's shot at the title had already been lost on the scale, as he came in 2.7 pounds over the 185-pound championship weight limit.

Romero's weight issues came back to haunt him again in his most recent title fight as he challenged Whittaker for the undisputed title at UFC 225 in Chicago. This time the Cuban missed his mark by just 0.2 pounds, but was unable to cut any more weight and, for the second time in successive fights, lost his title opportunity on the scale. This time he lost in the cage, too, as he found himself on the wrong side of a razor-thin split-decision in a fight many observers felt he had won.

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya during UFC 248 open workouts in Las Vegas on Wednesday. AP

Most recently, he lost a decision to Brazilian contender Paulo Costa in another Fight of the Night contest. But, with a bicep injury forcing Costa out of a title fight with reigning UFC middleweight champion Adesanya, the Kiwi belt holder called for a fight with Romero.

It means Romero, despite some patchy form, both in the cage and on the scale, has an unlikely shot at world championship glory this weekend in Las Vegas, where he'll face undefeated former kickboxing star Adesanya in a clash that has captured the imagination of hardcore fight fans around the world.

Adesanya, 30, has looked nothing short of outstanding since joining the UFC in 2018. Perfect at 18-0, he has surged through the middleweight division in super-quick time to capture the interim title in a classic against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236, then the unified, undisputed title with a devastating second-round knockout of Whittaker at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium at UFC 243 last October.

Known as "The Last Stylebender," Nigerian-born Kiwi Adesanya is one of the most spectacular stars of the new ESPN-era UFC, with his video game-esque striking skills and rapidly-evolving ground game making him one of the most entertaining fighters to watch inside the cage. His infectious personality make him an always-interesting fighter to listen to outside it.

I don't want to go too crazy hard, but I need to finish the fight.

Now New Zealand's recently-crowned Sportsman of the Year will look to complete the first defence of his undisputed UFC title against Romero, who is on a personal quest to prove the doubters wrong and claim UFC gold for the first time. For Romero, winning on the scorecards after five rounds simply isn't an option – he's targeting a knockout.

“Of course. I’ve got to finish,” Romero told reporters during a media luncheon in Los Angeles.

“I don’t want to go too crazy hard, but I need to finish the fight. Me and my team have the plan to knock him out. When he makes one little mistake – BOOM!”

And Romero also said he was appreciative of Adesanya for calling him out for the title fight, saying the Kiwi's desire to fight the toughest available opposition shows that he is a true champion.

“I’m not thinking about (the fact) that I lost two fights,” he said.

“This doesn’t have my attention because we do this like the old school. The best don’t want to fight, but need to fight the best.

"He said, ‘I want to fight Yoel.’ I say, ‘Thank you,’ because that’s exactly what we do."

As for Adesanya, his plan is to prove his worth by staying active, taking a dangerous fight and beating a man with a reputation for being one of the scariest, most intimidating fighters in the UFC.

"No one will remember people who don't go after people and people who try to duck fights. People who their manager tells them, 'You don't want to fight that guy,'" he explained.

"Yes, he's coming off losses, but I don't want to sit around and wait on the shelf. I just want to fight, and he's a guy that everyone's scared to call out. So I called him out."

As for Romero's weight worries, well, they're not his worries at all. When asked if he would make weight when he steps on the scale at Friday morning's official weigh-ins in Las Vegas, the Cuban simply laughed.

If he wins his fight with the scale on Friday, expect a titanic fight on Saturday.