UFC 248
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''UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero'' was a
mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...
event produced by the
Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...
that took place on March 7, 2020 at the
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in
Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, 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 ...
, part of the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Clark County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (the county seat), Henderson, and North Las Vegas ...
, 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 class ...
bout between the current champion
Israel Adesanya Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya (born 22 July 1989) is a Nigerian-New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, former kickboxer and boxer. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight di ...
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. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...
)
Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate ...
headlined the event. A UFC Women's Strawweight Championship bout between the current champion Zhang Weili and former champion
Joanna Jędrzejczyk Joanna Jędrzejczyk (, born August 18, 1987) is a Polish former professional mixed martial artist, Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. Jędrzejczyk competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she holds several records and is a forme ...
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 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 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, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United Stat ...
. 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 Championshi ...
, 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 arts, mixed martial artist and owner of MMA promotion ''Combat Zone''. He currently competes in the Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight division of the Ultimate Figh ...
and
Jeremy Stephens Jeremy Dean Stephens (born May 26, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist, Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle boxer and professional boxer, who currently competes in the Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight division of the Ultimate Figh ...
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 division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Silva de Andrade grew up in Castanhal, Brazil. He has an o ...
and Movsar Evloev 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. Subsequently, Evloev pulled out of the fight in late February citing injuries sustained in a road accident. He was replaced by Giga Chikadze. A middleweight bout between Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan 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 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 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, kickboxer ...
(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, kickboxer ...
(NAC) suspended Deron Winn 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 List of UFC events 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 ...
*
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 c ...
* 2020 in UFC


References

{{2020 in mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship flagship events 2020 in mixed martial arts 2020 in sports in Nevada March 2020 sports events in the United States Ultimate Fighting Championship events at T-Mobile Arena