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Despite teasing us with a potential Jon Jones super fight, newly-crowned Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight titleholder, Israel Adesanya, is expected to defend his 185-pound strap against undefeated division contender, Paulo Costa, at some point in early 2020.
And he’ll do it as the odds-on betting favorite.
Adesanya (18-0) opened at -175, according to our fiscal friends over at BetOnline.ag, leaving Costa (13-0) as the +150 underdog. No question that line will change — in both directions — as money starts to trickle in on this future headliner.
“The Last Stylebender” reached the 185-pound summit by smashing Robert Whittaker in the UFC 243 main event just last weekend in Melbourne, Australia. Similarly, “The Eraser” proved his mettle by outlasting Yoel Romero at UFC 241 back in August.
A date and venue for their middleweight brouhaha has yet to be announced, but no question the promotion will be looking to get that fight booked sooner, rather than later, especially with the current logjam at the top of the division (see it here).
For much more on Adesanya’s UFC 243 title win click here.