Paulo Costa was remarkably unsettled with Israel Adesanya after losing to Adesanya at UFC 253. During the fight, Adesanya was able to easily dismantle the challenger. He embarrassed Costa as he cruised to victory without breaking a sweat. Immediately after the 2nd round TKO victory, the camera captured Adesanya humping Costa on the ground while he was recovering from the beating. Paulo felt completely disrespected after the embarrassing loss. Now, Costa is stating that he shouldn’t have taken the fight in the first place, due to a leg injury and lack of sleep.
UFC 253
Adesanya (20-0) obliterated Costa (13-1) in the second round of their fight via TKO. And, to add insult to injury, it was virtual with no resistance met from Paulo. Adesanya then went on to address his haters and call out Jared Canonnier as his future opponent. But, the beef between the men wasn’t settled after the final bell. In fact, it started the next chapter.
Costa Speaks on Leg Injury Before Adesanya Fight
Recently, Paulo went live on his Youtube channel to talk about a potential matchup against Robert Whittaker. However, once the topic of Adesanya arose, he spoke about their fight, stating that he should have waited for the matchup to happen due to injury.
“Maybe I could have used more in the Adesanya fight, but many things happened before that fight,” Costa said. “I don’t like to talk because it might sound as 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,” said Costa.
Lobbying For a Rematch
Usually, a fighter who loses a title fight in such fashion would have to work his way back to title contention. But, Costa also made it clear throughout the interview that he would like to face Israel again.
Perhaps one or two more crucial victories in the division will allow Costa the opportunity to challenge Adesanya in the future. But, will the conditions of their back and forth garner enough interest for an immediate rematch? Only time will tell.
