Getty Paulo Costa is a UFC middleweight star.
Undefeated middleweight menace Paulo Costa is hyped about taking his first stab at capturing UFC gold, which according to multiple reports is now set to happen at UFC 253 on September 19. Costa took to social media on Sunday to express his excitement over finally getting his hands on UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
“I have been training since I did the surgery 1 yr ago,” Costa said. “I’m like a beast now, just hungry and obsessed.”
Costa Confirmed Massively Important Title Fight Is Next
While the UFC has yet to announce it’s official plans for UFC 253, various reports from the likes of Combate, ESPN, MMA Junkie and MMA Fighting all say that the company is planning for Adesanya to defend his 185-pound title belt against Costa on that date.
Costa revealed the same via social media.
“The fight is on folks!” Costa said.
The fight is on folks!
In September I ll bring the Show up
As for the proposed Adesanya vs. Costa fight, the animosity for this one is legit.
Costa has long coveted the chance to be the first fighter to hand Adesanya his first loss and the same feeling has come back to him the other way.
To give you some sense of the budding rivalry, Adesanya called Costa a “juiced-up monkey” a few weeks ago and Costa pretty much always refers to the 185-pound champ as “skinny boy”.
Bring the skinny boy to me 😆
If all that wasn’t enough, should Adesanya and Costa meet at UFC 253 as planned, it would be just the second contest in UFC history that featured two undefeated men fighting for a UFC title.
According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the first time that happened was way back in 2009 at UFC 98 when Rashad Evans lost his light heavyweight crown to Lyoto Machida.
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What About Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje?
While UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was originally thought to be meeting interim champ Justin Gaethje at UFC 253 on September 19 to establish an undisputed champion at 155 pounds, that fight now appears to be on its way to moving down the UFC’s schedule.
Per Helwani, “Though no official determination has been made regarding that fight, sources say the current plan is to headline the card with Adesanya vs. Costa and then do Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje for the lightweight title later in the fall.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father and trainer Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov died last month, and nobody knows yet when he’ll return to the Octagon.
So now it appears UFC 253 will be headlined instead by a riveting matchup between two undefeated stalwarts. Adesanya is the current champ and a legitimate striking savant, but there’s no more feared or powerful athlete in the division than Costa right now.
Both fighters are coming off decision wins over Yoel Romero. Now they’ll meet with middleweight supremacy on the line.
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