White: Costa vs Whittaker Would Not Be For Interim Strap

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, will move up to Light Heavyweight to face division champion Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 259 …


UFC 253 Adesanya v Costa
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, will move up to Light Heavyweight to face division champion Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 259 on March 6 in an effort to become the promotion’s latest “champ-champ.”

In doing so, the 185-pound weight class will be put on pause when it comes to title fights, giving the other contenders a chance to make a case for his shot at the title once “The Last Stylebender” comes back home, specifically Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa, the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked fighters in the division, respectively.

Speaking of which, it makes sense to book the fight next, an idea that isn’t lost on UFC President, Dana White, especially since “The Eraser” keeps “terrorizing” him

“Well, I can tell you Paulo Costa and his team are terrorizing us to make that fight. I would make that fight though. Yeah, I would make that fight,” White told The Mac Life (via BJPenn.com).

When asked if he would consider making it for the interim strap, White answered with a resounding no, much to the chagrin of “Borachinha’s” team, who recently claimed that White was considering creating an interim belt. At the end of the day, the interim belt really won’t mean much if the winner of this potential bangfest gets a title shot immediately after.

Right?