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SPORTS Monday 9 March 2020
Zhang Weili, Israel Adesanya keep title belts at UFC 248

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Zhang "I was really frustrated that
Weili and Joanna Jedrzed- my dance partner didn't
czyk were left bloody, want to dance," Adesanya
bruised and swollen after said. "I've never been in a
the strawweights staged boring fight, I was expect-
one of the most spectac- ing more of a fight from
ular title fights in recent him. Even in the fifth round,
mixed martial arts history. I thought he would be des-
And though the main event perate and bring the fight,
of UFC 248 couldn't mea- and I just kept waiting for
sure up to that penultimate the surge. Takes two to
scrap, both champions are tango, and I was the only
leaving Las Vegas with their one willing to dance. If you
belts. want to come get the belt,
Zhang defended her UFC come get the belt. I'm not
115-pound championship going to come to you, are
belt with a brutal split-de- you stupid?"
cision victory over former Adesanya's fearsome
champion Jedrzejczyk at counterpunching skills were
UFC 248 on Saturday night. useless largely because
Israel Adesanya then de- Romero barely threw
fended his middleweight a punch in the first two
title with an anti-climactic rounds. Adesanya only had
unanimous decision over occasional success in pen-
Yoel Romero at T-Mobile Zhang Weili, left, connects with a punch to Joanna Jedrzejczyk during the second round of a etrating Romero's defenses,
Arena in the UFC's home- women's strawweight UFC 248 mixed martial arts bout Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Las Vegas. but Romero only threw 89
town. Associated Press strikes —and landed only
After Zhang and Jedrze- 40 — in the five-round fight.
jczyk put on one of the out five technically fasci- which the fighters traded her face. The fighters em- Romero still took the micro-
most viscerally entertain- nating rounds, badly dam- big punches to the face braced in the cage after- phone after the fight and
ing bouts in recent UFC aging each other's faces. from the opening round. ward. criticized Adesanya for not
history, Romero and Ad- After the last of several Zhang's power appeared "She did great," Jedrzejczyk fighting more aggressively.
esanya staged a snoozer standing ovations from the to make the difference said. "We both put on one Adesanya only joined the
that had fans booing and Las Vegas crowd, Zhang early, and Jedrzejczyk's hell of a performance. I'm UFC in February 2018, but
chanting obscenities. The won the fight 48-47 on two face showed every ounce proud of myself and my the Nigeria-born, New
contrast was stark, but the judges' cards, while Je- of it late. team." Zealand-raised fighter has
strawweights' brawl will be drzejczyk won 48-47 on the But Jedrzejczyk gathered Zhang became the UFC's been among the UFC's
remembered a whole lot third. herself late in the second first Chinese champion last fastest-rising stars since the
longer than the faults of the "I had a long way to get round and had an out- year, and she is a key to moment he hit the cage.
main event. here," said Zhang, who standing third, switching the promotion's hopes of He won his first seven UFC
"That was a tough act to had to move her training to a southpaw stance and growing in the world's most fights while displaying his in-
follow," UFC President Dana camp out of China due to battering Zhang. The fourth populous nation. The per- credible athleticism and all-
White said. "I'd have to say the coronavirus outbreak. round was more of the sonable brawler jumped around skills, steamrolling
the best women's fight I've "It was very serious, but we same brute punishment for at the chance to take on the middleweight division
ever seen, and one of the made it. I'm so happy now." both fighters. Jedrzejczyk, who held the once ruled by pound-for-
best fights I've ever seen." Zhang and Jedrzejczyk had Jedrzejczyk's forehead and strawweight belt for 2 1/2 pound legend Anderson
Zhang (21-1) and Jedrze- a pre-fight animosity that eyes began to swell badly years and defended it five Silva.
jczyk (16-4) traded brutal carried straight into an un- in the fifth round, while times before losing in No- Before the title fights, light-
punches and kicks through- commonly brutal bout in Zhang bled from cuts on vember 2017. weight Beneil Dariush
Zhang clearly has the po- knocked out Drakkar Klose
tential to be a major part of in the second round with
the UFC's desire for global one perfect left hand at
growth, but particularly in the end of a spectacular
Asia. She is wildly popular in back-and-forth sequence.
China, where MMA is rising Dariush (18-4-1) was stag-
in significance. gered by Klose before he
"She's going to be a mas- responded by stalking Klose
sive star," White said of across the canvas and
Zhang. landing the left hand that
Adesanya (19-0) then de- dislodged Klose's mouth-
fended his belt for the first piece and rendered him
time, winning 48-47, 48-47 unconscious on his feet.
and 49-46 on the judges' On the preliminary card,
scorecards. elite bantamweight pros-
Romero (13-5) fought an pect Sugar Sean O'Malley
extraordinarily passive went to 11-0 with a dra-
fight. Adesanya appeared matic first-round stoppage
unable to figure out a way of José Alberto Quiñónez.
through the 42-year-old The bout was O'Malley's first
Cuban's defenses, but his since March 2018, thanks
efforts mattered more to to injuries and multiple posi-
the judges. tive doping tests.q