UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa is not rooting for Israel Adesanya.
Costa, who has been undefeated in five UFC bouts, became the strongest candidate for the next shot at the middleweight championship after a unanimous decision win against Yoel Romero last summer.
Unfortunately, he sustained a bicep injury, which will sideline him for approximately eight months.
With the Brazilian out of the title picture, the Nevada-based promotion is looking to pair the ‘Last Stylebender’ with Costa’s latest victim, Romero.
As both Adesanya and Romero agreed to fight, it is now up to the UFC whether it will pursue this intriguing clash.
Recently,Dana White revealed the middleweight title fight is already in the works and a tentative date is already set.
“We’re looking at Yoel Romero.”
“[Adesanya] wants that fight. He wants to fight Yoel Romero. Nobody wants to fight Yoel Romero. Nobody’s screaming, ‘I want to fight Yoel Romero.’ He is.”
“Yeah, but we’re not announcing it yet,” the UFC president told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Not Cool
If the title fight comes to fruition, Costa believes Adesanya would lose his middleweight belt to the Cuban powerhouse.
“What I really think, a lot of people may not agree, but I see a lot of holes, weaknesses in Adesanya. Mostly physical, he should be in the low, middle-to-middle category,” Costa told Combate in a recent interview (transcript from BJPenn.com).
“To fight me, Romero, he’s going to be hit hard. And, I don’t think he has the strength to absorb it.”
“I respect everyone who thinks he is very good. I think he has quality, but does not survive Romero.”
This is why Costa thinks the undisputed middleweight king should wait for his return instead of giving the title shot to Romero, who is currently on a two-fight losing skid.
“I think Adesanya should not fight, should wait for me to do this fight, because Romero comes from defeat, not cool.”
“On the other hand, there is no one in the division to fight him.”
Lack Of Respect
‘Borrachinha’ has also slammed the Kiwi-Nigerian for giving him the middle finger at UFC 243 in Australia.
“When he pointed the finger, it was a huge lack of respect. I wanted to go get satisfaction, charge him, hit him inside, give a lot of f****g, but there was no way,” Costa said.
“There were a lot of people, everyone in front of me before this happened, thought something like this would happen.”
“I would have to jump, pass through a lot of security, I had no way.”
“I would like to go up there not only for being there. Anyone who shows the finger to me, I will have the same reaction, charge the person.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/Israel Adesanya and YouTube/ MMA Junkie)