Israel Adesanya has great respect for Yoel Romero but don’t be fooled.

Adesanya doesn’t plan to lay down for “The Soldier of God” when they collide this Saturday night (March 7). “The Last Stylebender” will put his UFC middleweight championship on the line. Adesanya vs. Romero is set to headline UFC 248 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In a promotional video posted on the UFC’s Australia/New Zealand Twitter account, Adesanya said he’s a dangerous man himself and will thwart Romero.

“It’s me versus the ‘oogie boogeyman’ Yoel Romero,” Adesanya said. “The guy that everyone’s scared of — especially Darren Till. You saw me call him out because I don’t have fear. Fear is different from danger, you have to understand. I’m a dangerous man. A lot of people fear him because of what they’ve been told or what they see in the media, but I’ve seen the guy bleed, I’ve seen him cheat, I’ve seen him hurt. I know he’s human and like I said, fear is different from danger and I’m a dangerous man.

“He is a dangerous man as well, I have to dot my I’s and cross my t’s,” Adesanya added. “Will he be the first one to beat me? Keep dreaming b***h, ha!”

Adesanya became the undisputed UFC middleweight champion back in Oct. 2019. He starched Robert Whittaker in the second round via TKO. Going into the bout, Adesanya was already the interim title holder.

As for Romero, this is set to be his first shot at the undisputed gold. He did compete for the interim title and fell short back in July 2017. He was supposed to get his shot at the main title 11 months later but he failed to make weight.

UFC 248 will also feature a strawweight title bout. Champion Weili Zhang puts her gold on the line against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event.