Israel Adesanya has guaranteed that a future showdown with Paulo Costa would be a repeat of Conor McGregor’s fight against Jose Aldo.
Scoring the biggest win of his career to date, ‘The Last Stylebender’ defeated Robert Whittaker in their much-hyped unification bout at UFC 243.
In front of a 50-000 crowd, Adesanya showed he was too much to handle for Whittaker as he knocked him out in the second round.
Adesanya’s star was shining the brightest as he captured the undisputed middleweight title, cementing his status as one of the biggest fighters in the UFC.
His first official title-defence is not yet cast in stone but he is already being linked to a intriguing clash with the Cuban powerhouse, Yoel Romero.
Originally, it was Costa who loomed as the strongest candidate for the next title shot but he needed to sit out for eight months due to a bicep injury.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3S3OhPnllF/
It Will Happen
While Costa is on the sidelines recovering from an injury, Adesanya assures a fight with the Brazilian middleweight is going to happen in the future.
And he sees this matchup ending the same way as the McGregor vs Aldo bout.
In 2015, ‘The Notorious’ from Ireland essayed a brutal 13-second knockout of Aldo in their featherweight title fight at UFC 194.
“You know one thing that fight reminded me of? McGregor-Aldo,” he told Ariel Helwani in a recent interview, (transcript from BJPenn.com).
“It will happen. I know how to push his buttons. He’s such a meathead, I can push his buttons and make him do what I want him to do. Counter him.”
“People were always used to my linear attacks, they didn’t know about my lateral attacks. My hooks.”
“They thought when I started countering Rob, they forget that’s what I first started doing when I started kickboxing.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5GK96sAvBz/
Counter Striker
Confident of his striking skills, the Kiwi-Nigerian fighter said it would be too much for the aggressive Costa.
“I was a counter striker. I went back to my roots, and I was just hitting from all angles. Like literally hitting him from all angles.”
“Even when I was in ‘The Matrix’, caught him with an uppercut. So Paula is a guy, he’s a really aggressive bull, but I can be a matador.”
Aside from his stand up game, Adesanya wants his rival to beware of his yet-to-be-seen wrestling skills.
“You haven’t even seen my ground game yet, just bits and pieces. You haven’t seen my top game.
“Khabib isn’t the only who can maul people.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4xQ1usHDXx/
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa)