Jorge Masvidal warns Israel Adesanya of Yoel Romero’s power: ‘You might wake up in a recovery bed’

Jorge Masvidal believes Yoel Romero will defeat Israel Adesanya to win the promotions middleweight title.

Adesanya had publicly called out Yoel Romero for his first title defense after Paulo Costa got injured and it will happen in the main event of UFC 248. Even though the fight is over a month away, Masvidal says his teammate and friend in Romero is already ready.

“He’s ready, man. This is a good training camp for him. His mind is right and it’s been right for over a period of time,” Masvidal said to ESPN. “Before the Izzy fight, he was already getting in shape had a very bitter mouth about his last fight [against Costa] and I understood him because I thought he won as well. Yoel sometimes, a lot of times he fights and takes a couple of weeks off. After that fight, he was just back in the gym, hungry as ever.

“We’re going to see how much better conditioned he is for this fight, better than any other fight because he’s been in training camp for so long and his mind hasn’t gotten away. He’s just been hungry,” he continued. “I think maybe that loss, that decision loss might have been good in hindsight because the fire that he’s coming [in with for] this fight, is good. I like what I’m seeing.”

In this fight, Jorge Masvidal understands how good Israel Adesanya is as he says he’s one of the best guys he’s ever seen at middleweight. But, he knows Yoel Romero’s style and power is different and can easily end the fight by knockout.

“Izzy’s got so much talent, so precise with his striking. But, I don’t think he’s ever faced, well, I know he hasn’t faced anything like Yoel. I’ll elaborate more on that. When Yoel’s at his best, he is one of the best dual-threats that you can come around,” Jorge Masvidal explained. “He can take you down from the clinch, from the single leg, from the double leg, he can grab your ankle and make you do a backflip. And anyone of his hands in your face, forget about the knees, if he touches with a knee or elbow, you’re going to a place for a long time that’s not good. You might wake up in a recovery bed. We’ve seen him do it often.

“So, Yoel’s one of those few guys that can grapple at such a high level and at any moment end the fight. There’s not many guys like that. Obviously, Izzy’s younger, great conditioning, master of the standup, he has great reach and he can dictate the pace very well. His style. He can even get guys to slow down and not throw as much,” he continued. “While he is taking them off caus of his faints, his movements, his rhythm. I think it’s going to be an amazing fight. Obviously I’m biased in this one, I’m going with my boy Yoel. But Izzy’s one of the best guys I’ve seen for a while at 185.”

Do you agree with Jorge Masvidal’s assessment of Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero? Sound off in the comment section, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/30/2020.