Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Paulo Costa would like a rematch against Yoel Romerto, but with the middleweight title on the line this time around.
Even though he is sidelined until April or May due to a bicep injury, top middleweight contender Paulo Costa is keeping a close watch on the division’s alleged next title fight, which is yet to be confirmed by the UFC.
According to Israel Adesanya, he will take on Yoel Romero at UFC 248, in March, in a fight ‘Borrachinha’ still thinks might change, but considers good for him, because he would like to rematch the ‘Soldier of God’, after their first encounter ended in a somewhat controversial decision, which the Brazilian won unanimously.
Should Romero really fight and beat Adesanya, Paulo considers that the perfect scenario for him to kill two bird with one stone, decisevely defeat Yoel, preferably by knockout, and win the middleweight belt.
“I actually think it’s good that they fight. “Borrachinha told Combate. “I would like Romero to defeat Adesanya by knockout, by ground and pound, really beating him up, so that I can face him again. The fact that I didn’t knock Romero out is really bothering me. I was able to finish all my fights before Romero. He was the only one I didn’t finish, so I want to fight him again and knock him out.
“Adesanya makes no difference to me, he’s easier than Uriah Hall. I have no career goals of fighting him, I just want to because he is a loudmouth. I want to beat him up just because of that, it’s personal. When it comes to sports merit, I think Romero would be harder than Adesanya. There is no comparison. If Romero wins, it will mean more to me professionally. I want to knock him out. If I beat Romero, then I’ll want to fight Adesanya, too.”
Still undefeated, Costa (13-0) is on a five-fight winning streak in the UFC, with wins over Garreth McLellan, Oluwale Bamgbose, Johny Hendricks, Uriah Hall and most recently, back in August 2019, Yoel Romero. During his career, the 28-year-old scored 11 knockout wins and one submission, winning all his UFC bouts prior to Romero via TKO.