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I’m not sure how God is about answering prayers if part of the outcome is for you to be able to knock someone out cold, but Paulo Costa is shooting his shot.
Indeed, the hard-hitting bruiser is hoping for some divine intervention at UFC 243, as he hopes the man upstairs can somehow will Israel Adesanya to dethrone Robert Whittaker from the Middleweight mountain this Saturday (Oct. 5, 2019) in Melbourne, Australia. That’s because “The Eraser” wants to be the one to sleep “The Last Stylebender.”
“I’m really rooting for Adesanya to win,” Costa told MMA Fighting. “I think it’s going to be a really tough, I don’t think he gets past (Whittaker), but I’m asking God for him to win because I would really love to win the belt by beating him up,” he added.
“I really want to knock him out cold in the Octagon (and) leave him lying on the floor unconscious. I want to take that belt away from him so he stops being such a clown, but I don’t think he gets past Whittaker.”
According to Costa, the beef stems from Israel calling him out early in his career, a move the hulking Brazilian feels wasn’t warranted since “The Last Stylebender” hadn’t made a name for himself yet.
But now that Israel is the current interim champion at 185 pounds, he has a bit more clout attached to his name. Still, Costa doesn’t think Adesanya will offer much of a challenge, and deems Whittaker the toughest fight of the two.
“I think Whittaker is more complicated,” Costa said. “(Adesanya is) too easy. Not that he’s a bad fighter. I think that compared to Romero and Whittaker, Adesanya would be the easiest one,’ he said.
“I have nothing against (Whittaker). It would be a normal fight. I would still move forward to knock him out. None of my fights were personal, and I still knocked everyone out, so it would be another good one. But I think he’s easier than Romero.”
While none of his past contests were personal, it seems facing Adesanya is. So if the former kick boxer-turned MMA fighter can somehow pull out the victory in Melbourne, he could be facing the Brazilian bomber is his first title defense.
And the buildup to that potential title fight started months ago.