UFC 248 was headlined by a UFC middleweight title fight featuring Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero, but many fans were left disappointed with the bout.
The performance in the main event at UFC 248 did not live up to the expectation that many fans had heading into the bout. Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was one of those fans. Initially, Bisping had tweeted during the fight that he was “on the edge of his seat”, but his opinion seemed to change as the fight progressed.
“People are booing but I’m on the edge of my seat here. Fascinating.” Bisping tweeted.
The former champion appeared on a recent episode of his “Believe You Me” podcast with his co-host Luis J Gomez, giving his thoughts on the UFC 248 headliner. He addressed his initial reaction during the 1st round and how his opinion changed as the fight unfolded. See what Bisping had to say below:
“That may have been in round 1, OK. I’ve got to say it wasn’t my feelings by round 5. By round 5, I had had enough of it. I understand Romero is a very powerful guy and he has the ability to end anybody’s night, turn off your lights with one shot. Adesanya rightly, correctly, and smartly understands that so you’ve got to come with the correct game plan. You don’t want to stand in the pocket and trade with Romero.
The fight started, Romero just stood there absolutely stationary, feet planted to the floor. Everybody was like ‘wow what’s he doing’. I knew exactly what he was doing and it was genius. He was just waiting for Adesanya to come to him.
If he does that, that gives Romero the chance to counter. Because Romero is the shorter guy, for him to get on the inside, he’s got to slip, he’s got to get past kicks, he’s got to get past all types of stuff…but Adesanya saw the trap so then eventually, i think a couple of minutes in, nothing had happened.
As the fight progressed it was getting more and more frustrating.” he continued.
Michael Bisping said that he understands why Adesanya fought the way he did, but admits that it didn’t appeal to him as a fan of the sport:
“A win’s a win over a very very tough opponent. But it wasn’t the most exciting fight, it wasn’t the most spectacular performance, I don’t think he won any new fans with that fight.
I think both of them, if they’re brutally honest with one-another, that was a sh*tty fight! Simple as that. It was a sh*tty fight, and I don’t think anyone’s clambering for a rematch.”
UFC president Dana White was another spectator who wasn’t particularly impressed by the performance, saying that he was “disappointed” in Yoel Romero. These comments from Michael Bisping come after he said that he believes he would take the belt from Adesanya “pretty easily”, if he was still competing.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 11th March, 2020.
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