Paulo Costa came up short against Adesanya in the main event of UFC 253 back in September, losing via second-round TKO.
During a live Q&A session on his YouTube channel, Paulo Costa stated that he feels he should have postponed his title bout against Adesanya.
Paulo Costa went on to compare his situation to that of Patricky Freire, who was forced to pull out of his Bellator 249 co-main event bout against Jaleel Willis last October 15th. Costa and Freire are both coached by Eric Albarracin.
Despite getting stopped in the second round, Costa said that he wasn’t convinced of Adesanya’s skills, and believes that he can do better if the two were to cross paths inside the Octagon again.
Paulo Costa targeting bout with former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker
While Paulo Costa won’t likely be getting any immediate title rematches against Israel Adesanya, the Brazilian middleweight is setting his sights on the next best thing: the former champion and current number one contender Robert Whittaker.
Costa, who is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Adesanya at UFC 253 back in September, has publicly called for a bout against Whittaker, who secured his spot as the top contender with a unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 254.
While Whittaker says that Adesanya is the only fight that he wants now, he’s going to have to wait a while since the middleweight champion is booked to challenge reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
Costa, meanwhile, said that the Whittaker fight is very close to being booked.
Could a Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker matchup determine the next challenger for Adesanya?
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