How to Watch UFC 248

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 248 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Israel Adesanya will confront a formidable obstacle when he attempts to defend his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title for the first time, as he meets Yoel Romero in the UFC 248 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Weili Zhang puts her women’s strawweight crown on the line in the five-round co-main event at 115 pounds.

Adesanya enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the middleweight division. The 30-year-old kickboxer arrived in the UFC in February 2018 and rattled off six consecutive victories over Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson, Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum before wiping out Robert Whittaker with second-round punches to capture the 185-pound title less than two years later. Operating out of the City Kickboxing camp in New Zealand, Adesanya has secured 14 of his 18 career wins by knockout or technical knockout.

Romero, 42, enters the cage on a two-fight losing streak. American Top Team representative last appeared at UFC 241, where he wound up on the wrong side of a contentious decision against Paulo Henrique Costa on Aug. 17. An otherworldly physical specimen, Romero sports a 9-3 record under the UFC banner and owns a stellar resume that includes victories over three former UFC champions: Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida.

UFC 248 “Adesanya vs. Romero”—which streams live to ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT—also features a lightweight battle pitting Beneil Dariush against Drakkar Klose and a pair of welterweight tilts, as Neil Magny meets Jingliang Li and Alex Oliveira faces Max Griffin. ESPN (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) and ESPN+ (6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. PT) will split coverage of the seven-fight undercard.

A closer look at the UFC 248 “Adesanya vs. Romero” particulars:

THE LINEUP

185: Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero
115: Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
155: Beneil Dariush vs. Drakkar Klose
170: Neil Magny vs. Jingliang Li
170: Alex Oliveira vs. Max Griffin
135: Sean O'Malley vs. Jose Alberto Quinonez
155: Mark O. Madsen vs. Austin Hubbard
185: Rodolfo Vieira vs. Saparbek Safarov
185: Gerald Meerschaert vs. Deron Winn
115: Emily Whitmire vs. Polyana Viana
145: Giga Chikadze vs. Jamall Emmers
135: Danaa Batgerel vs. Guido Cannetti

THE RUNDOWN

• Preview
• Weigh-in Report
• Prime Picks
• Pre-Fight Stock Report
• UFC Middleweight Championship: A Visual History
• UFC Strawweight Championship: A Visual History
• Debets: Thrill Seeker Extraordinaire

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