Following his abysmal performance against Israel Adesanya at the UFC 253 Fight Island, Paulo Costa is looking to make amends as he eyes a title contention as the two would be the main event of the card in a highly anticipated match up with Dana White, even calling it the biggest fight of the year.
Costa entered the octagon with multiple marks on his leg and Stylebender who has a supreme fighting IQ targeted that same leg repeatedly. This helped Adesanya restrict the challenger’s movement and pick him apart.
However, the fight disappointed all those who hoped for a competitive outing. ‘The Last Stylebender’ trounced ‘Borrachinha’ and finished him in the second round.
Costa opened up on his showing at UFC 253. He said, “Maybe I could have used more in the Adesanya fight, but many things happened before that fight. I don’t like to talk because it might sound like an excuse, but I had no sleep, my leg was totally impaired, and I shouldn’t have fought, I should have postponed it for the next weekend or more.”
Costa would appear on his YouTube channel to give an insight into his future. The Brazilian KO artist still wants to face Israel Adesanya. He claimed that ‘Izzy’ was an agile and fast fighter but vowed it would end differently the next time as Adesanya didn’t convince him.
The Brazilian said, “It’s hard to say, I lost to him and won’t be right. I can say whatever I want and I won’t be right, it will sound salty, but, in reality, he doesn’t convince me. I can fight him 10 times and all 10 times will be different.”
However, he will not be able to battle his UFC 253 opponent for a while and has turned his attention to other challenges with his team trying to push for an immediate rematch. But, with Adesanya vs Blachowicz currently in negotiations, Costa has turned his attention to ‘The Reaper.
The former middleweight championship challenger confirmed the same and stylistically it would be an intriguing fight. A win against the former champion would bring “Borrachinha” back into title contention.
