UFC 248 in tweets
UFC 248 is in the books and what an event it was. Kicking off the main card was a welterweight clash between Alex Oliveira and Max Griffin. We were treated to 15 minutes of non stop action as the pair went to war. Cowboy landed an uppercut on Griffin which opened up a considerable cut by the right eye and it impaired Griffin’s vision throughout the fight. As we reached the final round, the blood of Griffin was all over the canvas and it played havoc as both men were sliding round everywhere on the ground with some great grappling transitions. It was Alex Oliveira who got the nod via split decision as he won his first fight since September 2018.
Up next was another welterweight bout, as Neil Magny was returning against the ever exciting Li Jingliang. The first round consisted of Magny’s jab and Li’s two takedowns although he didn’t capitalise on them. Magny dominated the second period and had Li seriously hurt towards the end and was arguably a couple of punches away from the finish. Once again, Magny was impressive in the last round and it looked like he had never been away with one of his best performances in recent history. He took the win via unanimous decision.
Lightweights were on deck as veteran Beneil Dariush went up against Drakkar Klose. Dariush had over 3 minutes of control in the first while riding the back of Klose and attempted multiple submission attempts. In the second, Klose landed a shot which hurt Beneil bad but Klose rushed in got caught himself and the infamous Chicken Dance was on show by Klose. As they fell back to the cageside, Dariush landed a left hook which rendered Drakkar Klose unconscious.
The first of two title fights was upon as Zhang Weili was aiming to defend her title for the first time against the greatest strawweight of all time and former champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk. The challenger started the fight really well and pressured Zhang and was backing the champion. As the round went on, Weili started to find her range and was landing more and more as the round closed. Joanna started to take control and the champion was starting to show little signs of fatigue. The power was with Zhang but the volume was all with Joanna. As we made our way into the 4th round, Zhang seemed to gain a second wind and was starting to piece Jędrzejczyk up, but both women were landing hard and it left a massive haematoma on the forehead of Joanna. The final round was exactly like the 4 previous rounds with both women laying everything on the line. As we horn went for the final time, there were no arguments that we just witnessed the greatest womens MMA fight of all time. No one was 100% sure who won as the scores were being read out. ‘And Still’ were the words echoed from Bruce Buffer as Zhang Weili retained her 115lb title.
The highly anticipated main event was finally here as Israel Adesanya was defending his middleweight crown against one of the most feared fighters, Yoel Romero. For the first round, nothing happened but Yoel won the first period because he landed the only punch of the round. It was one of the weirdest title fights of all time and hardly anything happened that people would remember. Israel got the win on the scorecards as he remained unbeaten and now looks towards Paulo Costa in the summer.
Check out the reaction below
Israel Adesanya vs Yoel Romero
Think it's safe to say I had the most exciting @ufc middleweight fight tonight. #UFC248
— Gerald Meerschaert (@The_Real_GM3) March 8, 2020
I love Izzy, but in my honest opinion, Romero won that due to extreme inactivity on both parties but Romero doing slightly more. #UFC248
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 8, 2020
Zhang Weili vs Joanna Jędrzejczyk
. @joerogan said that’s the best WMMA fight he’s called. Hands down best WMMA fight I’ve seen. And one of the best fights period! Congrats to both women! But special congrats to the champ!!!
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) March 8, 2020
Holy shit!!!! What a fight!!!! @MmaWeili and @joannamma #ufc248
— Raquel Pennington (@RockyPMMA) March 8, 2020
Beneil Dariush vs Drakkar Klose
Insane finish for @beneildariush Congrats.
— michael (@bisping) March 8, 2020
Neil Magny vs Li Jingliang
Very impressive! #UFC248
— James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) March 8, 2020
Alex Oliveira vs Max Griffin
After a bloody three-round war, @MaxPainGriffin and Alex Oliveira hug it out 🤝
Stream #UFC248 on ESPN+ ➡️ https://t.co/bgI1Songf8 pic.twitter.com/TUos13egIj
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 8, 2020
Full main card results below
Israel Adesanya bt Yoel Romero via Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 49–46)
Zhang Weili bt Joanna Jędrzejczyk via Decision (split) (48–47, 48–47, 47–48)
Beneil Dariush bt Drakkar Klose via KO (punch) Round 2- 1:00
Neil Magny bt Li Jingliang via Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)
Alex Oliveira bt Max Griffin via Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)
Follow me on twitter: @ReeceManUFC
Follow the team on twitter: @MMALatestNws
