Getty UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Israel Adesanya will put his middleweight title on the line against Yoel Romero in the main event of UFC 248, which will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
You can no longer buy UFC PPVs through your cable provider or UFC.tv, but anyone in the US can buy the UFC 248 PPV through ESPN+.
Your pricing options depend on whether or not you’re already an ESPN+ subscriber, so here’s a further rundown of how to order Adesanya vs Romero and the UFC 248 PPV:
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If you don’t already have ESPN+, you can get a special deal that includes a one-year subscription to ESPN+ ($49.99 value) and UFC 248 ($64.99 value) for $84.98, which works out to about 26 percent savings:
If you already have ESPN+, you can purchase the UFC 248 PPV by itself for $64.99. Make sure you’re logged into your ESPN+ account, then select the “Only looking for UFC 248? Get it for $64.99 here” link:
Or, current ESPN+ subscribers can also still get the special bundle price. But instead of starting a new ESPN+ subscription, you’ll just extend your current subscription by a year and get the UFC 248 PPV for a total of $84.98.
Once you’re signed up for ESPN+ and you’ve purchased the PPV, you can watch UFC 248 on your computer via ESPN.com, or you can watch on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other compatible streaming device via the ESPN app.
For all of those options, you’ll need to sign in with your ESPN+ account to watch the early prelims (ESPN+) and the main card (ESPN+ PPV). You can also watch the second set of prelims (ESPN) this way if you sign in with a cable provider.
UFC 248 Preview
Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will be participating in his third consecutive title fight: The now-30-year-old claimed the interim middleweight strap at UFC 236 in April 2019, besting Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision, then unified with a second-round punch-out of Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 six months later.
Romero (13-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC), 42, is coming off consecutive decision defeats. He most recently fell to Paulo Costa, who then appeared be in line to challenge for the belt before surgery dashed a potential meeting with Adesanya. The champ called Costa out from the octagon following his victory over Whittaker.
Eight of Romero’s nine UFC victories have ended with strikes. He’s 1-2 in bouts that go the distance.
“He’s a veteran, he’s an explosive guy, he likes to lull [his opponent] and then he explodes on them,” Adesanya said of Romero, according to ESPN. “And when I say a veteran, he has certain moves that he likes to do; you’ve got stool-gate, grabbing the fence, things like that. Fact. Fact. Check the résumé.
“But for me, I just have to keep the same energy. Every fight I’ve had in the UFC was the biggest fight I’ve ever had, and this is no different; this is the biggest fight of my career thus far. I’m ready, two more weeks, I can see the finish line.”
Immediately preceding the main event, Zhang Weili (20-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) will put her strawweight title on the line against Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), 32, who held the belt from March 2015 to November 2017. She mounted five successfully defenses in that span.
“I want to make her quit,” Jedrzejczyk said of the 30-year-old, according to MMA Junkie. “I’ve been through so many fights, this is my 14th fight in the UFC, 10th for the belt. I’m a naturally gifted fighter with such good conditioning and I want to make her quit.
“I want to make her quit and beg me to stop, that’s what’s going to happen. Of course, one punch can finish the fight but I’m ready for anything and everything. I’m not this person that says I’m going to knock her out, I’m going to submit her, no. You have to take fights second by second.”
UFC 248 Main Card (10 p.m. ET)
Middleweight: Israel Adesanya (champion) vs Yoel Romero
Women’s strawweight: Zhang Weili (champion) vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Lightweight: Beneil Dariush vs Drakkar Klose
Welterweight: Neil Magny vs Li Jingliang
Welterweight: Alex Oliveira vs Max Griffin
UFC 248 Prelims (8 p.m. ET)
Bantamweight: Sean O’Malley vs Jose Quinonez
Lightweight: Mark Madsen vs Austin Hubbard
Middleweight: Rodolfo Vieira vs Saparbek Safarov
Middleweight: Gerald Meerschaert vs Deron Winn
UFC 248 Early Prelims (6 p.m. ET)
Women’s strawweight: Emily Whitmire vs Polyana Viana
Featherweight: Giga Chikadze vs Jamall Emmers
Bantamweight: Danaa Batgerel vs Guido Cannetti
READ NEXT: How to Buy UFC 248: PPV Price & ESPN+ Bundle Deal