Paulo Costa Wants ‘Skinny’ Israel Adesanya To Win At UFC 243
Paulo Costa wants Israel Adesanya to defeat Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 for one reason — so that he can “erase” him.
Whittaker and Adesanya collide in a middleweight title unification clash on October 5 in Melbourne, Australia. The winner is likely to face Costa next, who is coming off the biggest win of his career over Yoel Romero this past weekend at UFC 241.
Costa and Adesanya have had back-and-forth interactions in the past, most recently after the former’s recent win.
That among others is why Costa hopes he gets to face Adesanya next:
“I’m rooting for Adesanya to win this fight because man I will kill him,” Costa said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (transcript via MMA Junkie). “I definitely will erase him. He doesn’t have a chance, he’s very skinny. He’s just tall, he not have a chin, not have confidence.
“Remember, I saw [him] against Anderson Silva, Anderson Silva put his back on the cage and say come on Israel and Israel is afraid. Israel is a fake champion, I don’t believe that he’s a true champion you know. He not have jiu-jitsu, he not have wrestling. I proved that I can face the high level of wrestling, takedowns you know. Romero tried to put me down in the first time he tried, I scrambled him and he say oh my God, I can’t take this guy down easily.”
“The Eraser” also takes issue the confidence that Adesanya projects. He believes “The Last Stylebender” isn’t truly confident like Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz for example:
“He shows a fake confidence,” Costa added. “When you talk a lot of (expletive), when you avoid some things, because you don’t feel real confidence in yourself. Deep down he don’t show the real confidence like McGregor. McGregor is a very confident guy and everybody feel that, Nate Diaz also but Adesanya is a fake confidence.
“I will slap his face, kick his (expletive). I will embarrass him in the cage.”
What do you make of Costa’s comments?
