UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Daniel Cornmeat
- 18 hours ago
- 8 min read
Introduction
UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero took place on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card drew 18,932 fans, an estimated $4.4 million gate, and a reported 700,000 pay-per-view buys. It was the third numbered UFC card of 2020 and the last UFC pay-per-view held in front of a full live crowd before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down mainstream sports the following week.
The card delivered one of the strangest contrasts in modern UFC history. The main event — the first middleweight title defense for Israel Adesanya — was loudly booed for the inactivity of both men, with a combined 128 significant strikes thrown across 25 minutes. The co-main — the first women's strawweight title defense for Zhang Weili — became, by consensus, the greatest fight in women's MMA history.
Adesanya retained via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) over Yoel Romero in a fight that became the canonical example of the championship-stalling problem that the post-Khabib UFC had begun to acknowledge. Zhang Weili retained via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) over Joanna Jędrzejczyk in a five-round war that was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame's Fight Wing the following year.
Contents
• FAQ
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, March 7, 2020
📍 Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
👥 Attendance: 18,932
💰 Gate: $4,396,135
📺 PPV Buys: ~700,000
📡 Broadcast: Pay-per-view (ESPN+ in USA)
🏆 Main Event: Israel Adesanya (c) vs. Yoel Romero — UFC Middleweight Championship (185 lbs)
✅ Result: Adesanya def. Romero via Unanimous Decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
🥇 Co-Main: Zhang Weili (c) def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk via Split Decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) — UFC Women's Strawweight Championship
The Build-Up
Adesanya entered as the freshly unified middleweight champion after his second-round KO of Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019. He was 19-0 with 14 KO/TKO wins, an undefeated kickboxing-to-MMA transition that had drawn comparisons to Anderson Silva's early UFC run. The challenger was Yoel Romero — the 42-year-old Cuban Olympian, two-time former interim title challenger, and the most physically explosive middleweight in the division's history.
Romero arrived in a peculiar position. He had lost his last two: a TKO loss to Robert Whittaker for the interim title at UFC 225 in June 2018, and a split-decision loss to Paulo Costa at UFC 241 in August 2019. By his record, Romero did not deserve a title shot. By his profile — and by the UFC's faith in his promotional value — he got one anyway. The matchup was widely criticised before the fight: a 42-year-old coming off back-to-back losses against the most marketable champion in the division.
The promotional cycle was muted. Both men respected each other publicly. Adesanya — with his anime-aesthetic post-fight celebrations and reverence for the sport's history — spoke of Romero in glowing terms. "He's a legend," Adesanya said. "This is a dream matchup for me." The betting line opened Adesanya at -300 and held there. Most pundits expected a one-sided striking display.
The co-main was the marquee co-feature of the year. Zhang Weili — the first Chinese UFC champion in promotion history, having taken the strawweight belt from Jessica Andrade via 42-second TKO at UFC Fight Night Shenzhen in August 2019 — was making her first defense against Joanna Jędrzejczyk, the former strawweight champion and one of the most accomplished strikers in the division's history.
Main Event: Adesanya vs. Romero
The fight was, by any technical measure, a disaster. Adesanya landed 90 significant strikes across five rounds. Romero landed 38. Combined: 128 significant strikes in 25 minutes — the lowest output for any UFC middleweight title fight in the modern era. Romero refused to engage; Adesanya refused to force the exchange. Both men spent long stretches at distance, eyes locked, hands at their hips, waiting for an opening that neither would commit to creating.
The boos started in round two and never stopped. The Las Vegas crowd — who had paid premium prices for the night — made their feelings known. "Stop! Just stop!" one fan screamed during a particularly inactive 90-second stretch in round four, audible over the broadcast. Adesanya's calf kicks were the only sustained offence either man produced; Romero's responses came in single, looping right hands that mostly missed.
The scorecards — 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 for Adesanya — reflected the volume disparity rather than any decisive action. Most pundits agreed Adesanya won the fight as it was contested, though several thought a draw was defensible. The bigger problem was that the fight had been almost unwatchable for the people who paid to watch it.
In his post-fight interview, Adesanya defended his approach: "I'm not going to be a fool in there. He's a counter-puncher — you've got to make him commit." Romero spoke briefly: "I was waiting. He never commit. That's the fight." The crowd booed both men through the ring announcements. Adesanya's first title defense had been a championship retention and a public-relations setback in equal measure.
The performance shaped the narrative around Adesanya for the next two years. Critics pointed to UFC 248 as evidence of a stylistic ceiling: a counter-striker who would not engage against another counter-striker, leaving fights to play out in stand-and-stare patterns. The criticism eased only after the more decisive performances against Paulo Costa (KO2 at UFC 253) and Marvin Vettori in subsequent fights.
Co-Main Event: Zhang vs. Jędrzejczyk
The co-main event has been re-watched more often than the main since fight night. Zhang Weili and Joanna Jędrzejczyk produced 25 minutes of striking exchanges so dense, so technically refined, and so violently competitive that the broadcast team — Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and Jon Anik — began openly calling it the greatest fight in women's MMA history within the second round.
Jędrzejczyk's forehead swelled to a visible egg by the end of round two from a series of right-hand counters. By the end of round three, both women were bleeding from multiple cuts. By the end of round four, the volume of significant strikes — 257 landed combined by the end of the fight — was the highest in any women's UFC bout to that point.
The judges returned a split decision: 48-47 Zhang, 47-48 Jędrzejczyk, 48-47 Zhang. Jędrzejczyk was gracious; Zhang was emotional. "This is the greatest fight of my life," Zhang said through her translator. "Thank you, Joanna. You are a champion." Both women received Fight of the Night bonuses. The fight was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame's Fight Wing in July 2021.
For Zhang Weili, the win was her first successful strawweight title defense and her last UFC win before losing the belt to Rose Namajunas at UFC 261 fourteen months later. She would regain the title at UFC 281 in November 2022.
Full Results
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Israel Adesanya (c) def. Yoel Romero — Unanimous Decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) — Middleweight Title
Zhang Weili (c) def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk — Split Decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) — Women's Strawweight Title
Beneil Dariush def. Drakkar Klose — KO (punch) — R1, 1:01 — Lightweight
Neil Magny def. Li Jingliang — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Welterweight
Sean O'Malley def. Jose Quinonez — KO (punch) — R1, 2:02 — Bantamweight
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Alex Oliveira def. Max Griffin — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Welterweight
Mark Madsen def. Austin Hubbard — Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) — Lightweight (Madsen UFC debut)
Gerald Meerschaert def. Deron Winn — Submission (guillotine) — R3, 1:13 — Middleweight
Rodolfo Vieira def. Saparbeg Safarov — Submission (arm-triangle) — R1, 4:23 — Middleweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥊 Fight of the Night: Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk — $50,000 each — the most celebrated fight in women's MMA history.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Beneil Dariush — $50,000 for the first-round KO of Drakkar Klose.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Sean O'Malley — $50,000 for the first-round KO of Jose Quinonez.
Records & Milestones
• Last UFC pay-per-view held in front of a full live crowd before the COVID-19 pandemic. UFC 249 (originally April 18, 2020) was postponed days later; UFC's next event with a live crowd was UFC 261 on April 24, 2021 — a 14-month gap.
• Adesanya's first successful UFC Middleweight Championship defense.
• Lowest combined significant-strike total for any UFC middleweight title fight in the modern era: 128 across five rounds (90 Adesanya, 38 Romero).
• Zhang Weili's first successful strawweight title defense — part of the only Chinese champion's reign in UFC history.
• Zhang vs. Jędrzejczyk inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame's Fight Wing in July 2021 — the first women's strawweight bout enshrined.
• Sean O'Malley's third UFC win and the start of his ascent to the bantamweight title he would win at UFC 292 in August 2023.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 248 is remembered as two cards in one. The main event became a cautionary tale about championship-stalling and the limits of the counter-striker meta. The co-main became one of the canonical women's MMA fights and the moment Zhang Weili entered the global conversation about the greatest fighters in any UFC weight class.
For Adesanya, the post-Romero performance shaped two years of public conversation about his championship reign. The criticism eased only after more dynamic title defenses against Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. By the time he lost the title to Alex Pereira in November 2022, the UFC 248 main event had become a footnote rather than a defining performance.
For the wider sport, UFC 248 was the last full-crowd numbered UFC event for 14 months. The card's date — March 7, 2020 — became one of the boundary markers between the pre-COVID and post-COVID eras of professional combat sports. The next month's UFC 249 was postponed; UFC events resumed in May 2020 at the APEX in Las Vegas without crowds. UFC 248 is, in that sense, the last card of one era and the unofficial end of another.
FAQ
Why was UFC 248's main event so heavily booed?
Combined significant strikes across 25 minutes: 128 (90 for Adesanya, 38 for Romero). It was the lowest output in any UFC middleweight title fight of the modern era. Both men spent long stretches at distance, refusing to commit to exchanges. The Las Vegas crowd — paying premium prices — made their feelings audible by the second round.
Did Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk really get inducted into the Hall of Fame?
Yes. The fight was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame's Fight Wing in July 2021 as part of the International Fight Week ceremony. It was the first women's strawweight bout enshrined and is routinely cited alongside Edgar vs. Maynard II and Diaz vs. McGregor II as one of the best five-round wars in UFC history.
Was UFC 248 really the last UFC pay-per-view before COVID?
Yes. The next numbered UFC card was originally UFC 249 on April 18, 2020 — which was postponed two days after UFC 248 ended. UFC events resumed on May 9, 2020 with UFC 249 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, but without a live crowd. The next UFC event with a full crowd was UFC 261 on April 24, 2021 — a 14-month gap.
How many significant strikes did Adesanya land on Romero?
90 significant strikes across five rounds. Romero landed 38. The combined total of 128 was the lowest in any UFC middleweight title fight in the modern era and is routinely cited as the canonical example of the stand-and-stare problem in counter-striker matchups.
Did Yoel Romero ever fight in the UFC again?
No. UFC 248 was Yoel Romero's final UFC fight. He was released from the promotion in March 2021, fought twice for Bellator (winning one, losing one), and announced his retirement in 2024. He never received another UFC title shot, and the Adesanya fight stood as the end of his championship run.
Who got bonuses at UFC 248?
Three bonuses were awarded. Fight of the Night went to Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk ($50,000 each). Performance of the Night went to Beneil Dariush (first-round KO of Drakkar Klose) and Sean O'Malley (first-round KO of Jose Quinonez). The main event was conspicuously absent from the bonus list — a rare statement from the UFC brass about the quality of the headline.
How does UFC 248 compare to UFC 246 and UFC 247?
The three back-to-back cards illustrate the variance in modern UFC pay-per-view. UFC 246 (McGregor's 40-second TKO) drew 1.35 million buys. UFC 247 (Jones's controversial decision) drew 750,000. UFC 248 drew 700,000 — a respectable number that masked the dramatic dropoff in main-event quality between the three cards.
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