Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Fun fight, but Costa vs. Cannonier makes more sense since both are coming off losses.
Despite his yelling and screaming about an immediate rematch, I think Paulo Costa is starting to realize he’s got some work to do before the promotion allows him to run it back with reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Perhaps former champ Robert Whittaker would be the next best thing.
“Congrats to the nice guy Robert Whittaker,” Costa wrote on Twitter. “Looking good last night. Congrats to Jared Cannonier too. Both good did their best. Hey Whittaker enjoy your end of year, you deserved it. When you come back we can do amazing fight.”
Not sure that “makes sense” for Dana White.
Whittaker (22-5) dropped his title to Adesanya at UFC 243, but has since scored back-to-back wins over Darren Till and the aforementioned Cannonier. As for Costa (13-1), his “Stylebender” loss at UFC 253 marked the first defeat of his professional career.
Whittaker and Cannonier are ranked No. 1 and No. 3, respectively.