GDT: UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero

pistolpete11

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Apr 27, 2013
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I think Romero 1, 2 and Stylebender 3, 4, and 5 is about right. I don't feel so strongly about it that I'm going to argue it and I'm for sure not going to go back and watch it again, but that's how I would have scored it.

I think saying Stylebender isn't that good or that he's not star material based on this fight is pretty silly, though. Anyone remember Silva-Maia? Considering what he's done to this point in his UFC career, he could come out and beat Costa, Cannonier, and Till in impressive fashion and this fight will be nothing but a blip on the radar.

I have no idea how I'd score Zhang-JJ round by round, but if you were to judge it by the overall fight, I think Zhang won. JJ had a slight edge in total strikes, but Zhang's strikes were more impactful. Leg kicks of course count for something, but I don't think they are as important as head shots and especially JJ's leg kicks. A lot of them she throws out there just to touch them. It's not like Gaethje where he digs in and it looks like he's trying to break your leg. But props to JJ as well. Maybe there really was something to her weight cut when she got KO'ed by Rose. I still think it's lame she blamed it on her team, but taking those shots for 5 rounds against Zhang has to be more damaging than one shot from Rose.

Hopefully Rose can beat Andrade which she was well on her way doing until she got dropped on her head. Zhang-Rose would be a good one. I still say Suarez can beat anybody in that division, but Dana said this weekend that they are still trying to figure out what's wrong with her neck. It's starting to have that "Will she ever fight again?" feeling to it.
 
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m9

m9
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Sure, but some are elevating it among the best fights of all-time

I think they're confusing "great" with "memorable"

I agree with this. It was a great fight but hardly a classic or anything. Most classic flights to me need to have fighters getting in & out of danger, near finishes, etc.

Still, very enjoyable.
 
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BGDDYKWL

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Jul 16, 2007
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The biggest shots were Izzy's leg kicks
Totally disagree. How many fights in MMA history have ended with leg kicks? You can count them on one hand. Romero was charging at the closing bell so I wouldn't exactly say they had much effect. The most impactful shot was Romero's first overhand left. That completely changed Adesanya's demeanor. He fought scared the rest of the fight. The body kick was good, but it was high, lat vs rib, sorry but that's just not comparable to a bomb to the face.

No judges gave Izzy round 1, one gave Izzy round 2. Seems about right to me.

None of the judges gave Romero round 5, and rightfully so - from round 3 onwards it was pretty much all Izzy.

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I'm shocked by this. Romero clearly won round 5. He landed more strikes, dictated the pace, was the aggressor, and he was the one coming forward when the bell rang.
 

CDJ

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Nov 20, 2006
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Hell baby
I have a very hard time calling anybody an aggressor in any round.

Romero heard that signal for 10 seconds and took a few steps forward and yelled in adesanya’s face. Yippee I guess?

Adesanya outstruck him 3 rounds to 2. The only major strike was the one landed on Izzy in the first, and that round was given to Romero so people can’t say it didn’t account. It was 3-2. That’s all there is to it. Romero didn’t do enough in what was in all likelihood his last chance, that’s on him
 
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CDJ

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Hell baby
I agree with this. It was a great fight but hardly a classic or anything. Most classic flights to me need to have fighters getting in & out of danger, near finishes, etc.

Still, very enjoyable.

i think it’s pretty easily a top 10 fight of all time imo

I mean Joanna looked absolutely preposterous and Zhang’s face was falling off. They threw ~800 strikes between the two of them. Neither side gave an inch. The fight was meaningful with a belt on the line. There was bad blood. It had it all outside of a decisive finish.

I don’t think I’m too caught up in the moment either- it had me feeling the same way when I watched Luque-Barbarena. Except this was a 5 round war with a belt on the line. A firefight the likes of which we rarely see. I have no idea how either of them, but JJ in particular, survived without being finished. They left a piece of themselves in there.
 

CDJ

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Nov 20, 2006
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Hell baby
It got brought up as a question on morning kombat but it’s certainly interesting- What do ppl make of Dana defending Izzy but criticizing Woodley for pretty much doing the same thing against wonderboy?


Kind of a little validating for Woodley there....
 

pistolpete11

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Apr 27, 2013
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It got brought up as a question on morning kombat but it’s certainly interesting- What do ppl make of Dana defending Izzy but criticizing Woodley for pretty much doing the same thing against wonderboy?


Kind of a little validating for Woodley there....
I never agreed with the way Dana talked about Woodley, but Dana wasn't bashing Woodley (or praising Stylebender) for that fight alone. Dana plays favorites and he likes Stylebender for obvious reasons and doesn't like Woodley for obvious reasons. I think he should be able to put that shit away and still promote his fighters, but history tells us he won't.
 
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pistolpete11

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Apr 27, 2013
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Sure, but some are elevating it among the best fights of all-time

I think they're confusing "great" with "memorable"
I think it's one of the best title fights of all time. The pace they kept, the damage they did, the momentum swings, and the importance of the fight are all reasons it'll be in the HoF some day.

But yeah, there are a ton of amazing fights that would be ahead of this one without the 'title fight' or 'female' qualifiers.
 
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pistolpete11

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Apr 27, 2013
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I'm shocked by this. Romero clearly won round 5. He landed more strikes, dictated the pace, was the aggressor, and he was the one coming forward when the bell rang.
He 'outstruck' him 14 to 12, there was no pace, and there was no aggression, so you shouldn't be 'shocked'. Neither guy did enough to be able to complain about the judges' scorecards.
 
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ZDH

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Mar 6, 2008
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The funniest part of the entire thing was right after the bell rang to end the match they both were like "wanna fight" as if they didn't just have 25 minutes to throw hammers.

Also JJ's super late hit on Zhang after Zhang hit her right at the bell at the end or round 1 was pretty ridiculous. I wonder what would've happened if that punch KO'd Zhang...
 

SuperScript29

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Nov 17, 2017
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The funniest part of the entire thing was right after the bell rang to end the match they both were like "wanna fight" as if they didn't just have 25 minutes to throw hammers.

That's what made this fight very embarrassing for both fighters, but I think Romero made himself look like the bigger ass in this the way he acted after the fight.

I have no problem with the decision, neither guy did anything significant to solidify a win, but given that you need to decisively beat the champ to be one, Romero was nowhere near that.
 

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