Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“I already know how that fight’s going to go. I’m going to sleep that guy.”
Israel Adesanya is moving on from UFC 248 to focus on his next title defense — a proposed middleweight title showdown with undefeated knockout artist Paulo Costa, who was originally supposed to challenge ‘The Last Stylebender’ for the belt this past Saturday before being sidelined with injury.
Adesanya was expected to face off with Costa following his successful middleweight title defense against Yoel Romero at UFC 248 but ‘Borrachinha’ was immediately escorted out of the arena after attempting to bypass security and storm the Octagon.
Speaking to the media following his lackluster unanimous decision win over ‘Solder of God’, Adesanya promised a KO victory over Costa when the two inevitably meet later this year — possibly in July.
“He left. I thought he was going to sh*t in his hand and throw it at the cage,” Adesanya said at the UFC 248 post fight press conference (h/t MMA Fighting). “That’s why I was trying to look at Joe Rogan like where is he and he’s like ‘he’s gone’ and I was like ‘oh f*ck’. I was ready to roast him right there and then.
“Trust me, I’m going to have fun with him. I’m going to f*cking roast him like a Sunday pig.”
“He sucks at trying to talk trash as well. He’s easily influenced. I can flick his nose and you’ll see him bark at the cage. Like he’s too emotional. I already know how that fight’s going to go. I’m going to sleep that guy.
“I’ve had a lot of kickboxing fights, his reach, his arms when he lets them down reaches his waist. I’ll pick him apart. He’s a guy that I’ll definitely jab, pick apart, catch him and then knock him out.”
“I’m looking to that fight now more than ever,” Adesanya continued. “Cause I actually get a guy that’s going to not stand there and do like the 52 blocks at me. He’s actually going to come forward, have pressure and get hit by me a lot.
“That sounds good to me. July’s my birthday month. We’re in March, yeah I can do that.”
Expect an official fight announcement in the coming weeks.