Eric Albarracin is excited by the prospect of his student Paulo Costa coaching alongside middleweight champion Israel Adesanya on the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter. Undefeated contender Costa is next in line for a shot at the 185lb title. The Brazilian knockout artist has been made to wait for his shot due to a bicep injury that required surgery.
Although no official announcement has been made it seems likely Costa and Adesanya will be starring in the rebooted version of TUF which hasn’t aired since 2018. Veteran commentator Joe Rogan let the news slip while speaking to Joe Schilling on a recent episode of his podcast.
“Oh they’re bringing it back by the way, Paulo Costa and Israel Adesanya, tell me you’re not gonna watch that,” Rogan said.
Speaking to MMA Junkie Albarracin explained why he thinks Costa and Adesanya will make the best TUF series ever, he said.
“That’s gonna be the greatest ‘Ultimate Fighter’ in history, if not the greatest middleweight title fight in history. “Because ‘The Eraser’ Paulo Costa, ‘Borrachinha’ (is) 13-0, 12 knockouts vs. ‘The Last Stylebender’ 19-0, we all know he’s the 185-pound champ, we all know they’re at each other’s throats.
“He called him Ricky Martin in Australia and I always say, ‘Yeah, he looks like Ricky Martin but he hits like Mike Tyson.’ I can’t wait to see these guys (coach) a whole season. Who’s not gonna want to watch that? These guys at each other’s throats. By the end of the season, it’s gonna be a level 10 type of intensity between those guys.”
Costa hasn’t fought since beating Yoel Romero over three rounds at UFC 241 in August 2019. ‘The Eraser’ stretched his perfect record to 13-0 in the fight and established himself as the number one contender at middleweight. Since then Adesanya has emphatically knocked out Robert Whittaker to capture the belt and then defended it against Romero earlier this year.
Do you think Paulo Costa and Israel Adesanya will be entertaining coaches on the revived Ultimate Fighter series?