Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa engage in heated exchange, ends with Costa ripping shirt off
The next big UFC pay-per-view event is just over a month away scheduled for Sept. 26. The main event will be headlined by Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa for the middleweight title.
The trash talk between the two continues. Adesanya and Costa were featured on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” ahead of their highly anticipated middleweight clash.
Both fighters took jabs at each other in a heated but entertaining argument over each other’s fighting styles.
Adesanya believes Costa’s recklessness will work in his favor.
“He’s dumb,” Adesanya told ESPN. “He’s dumb and he walks forward and he throws shots. That’s what makes it really exciting, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m looking forward to this big, inflated ignoramus, running up on me, trying to throw shots as I keep moving and sticking him.”
Costa took a jab at Adesanya’s recent fight against Joel Romero accusing the champion of running away.
“I really think he has good skills,” Costa said. “His best skill is running away – avoid the fight. He’s very good at that – very good when he wants to do that. I tried to ask him why he just stood when he faced Romero. The only thing more disturbing than his hair was his fight against Romero.”
The heated exchange concluded with Costa ripping off his shirt to show off his physique.
The Izzy-Costa buildup is gonna be great over this next month 😂 pic.twitter.com/0TK2f2fxzH
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 21, 2020
Adesanya shut down those claims by showing off his “Fight of the Year” trophy claiming he’s had his fair share of wars.
“The only people he ever beat that are worthy of anything as two guys that are ranked, that was Uriah Hall and Romero,” Adesanya said. “Who else has he beat that’s ranked? Who else has he beat? I can list you four guys that I have, so you have to understand there’s levels to this.
“Like I said, he’s dumb. But that’s what makes him dangerous, as well, because he’s not scared to walk forward and just throw, and he’s strong. But the same thing happens when they step in the cage with me. When they see me, they feel me. They say, ‘Oh my God – he’s a lot stronger than I thought. Oh my God – he’s a lot bigger than I thought.’”
