Paulo Costa is coming off second-round TKO win over Uriah Hall at UFC 226. This victory was his fourth straight fight in the UFC, all by TKO or knockout.
After the fight, Costa signaled out a former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman as his next opponent, would want to meet him at UFC 230 in New York. If that doesn’t come to fruition, he is open to fighting Israel Adesanya, who is coming off a unanimous-decision win over vet Brad Tavares in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale.
Costa doesn’t seem too interested in locking horns against Adesanya, but during his talk with MMAJunkie Radio, he said If fans and UFC want to see this showdown, I am open for it.
“The first time I heard his name was on Friday when he fought,” said Costa, who added that Adesanya would be an easier fight for him than Weidman. “People asked me about this fight, and I said I don’t know this guy. But if the people want this fight, let’s make this fight.
“My priority is Chris Weidman. He’s a former champion, he’s very famous in the world, and he’s higher ranked. But I’m a fighter, and the UFC decides. (UFC President) Dana White decides. I’m here to make the biggest and the greatest fights. So if he wants it and everybody wants it, I’ll fight Israel.”
UFC president Dana White praises both up-and-comers for their victories at UFC 226 presser, but UFC doesn’t have immediate plan to book their showdown now. “The Last Style Bender” won’t get the matchup that he asked for after his third UFC win, but he got complimentary words from promotion’s head.
Israel revealed during his interview with Joe Rogan that UFC wants him to fight Costa but before that he needs to add some wins and get into higher ranks.
Costa believes if he throwdown with Israel sometime in near future, he’s more than convinced that he got more tools in his arsenal to win the fight.
“I think Israel is more easy to fight than Chris Weidman,” Costa said. “I like the hard fights. Israel, I saw some of his highlights yesterday, and I think he doesn’t have good grappling. He’s more of a standup fighter, so I think it’s easier than Chris Weidman.”
Do you see a showdown between Costa and Adesanya down the road?
