Initially, it was believed that Israel Adesanya’s first defense of the UFC middleweight championship would be against Paulo Costa.
The pair had begun a nice rivalry with one another after some very personal trash talk. However, Costa later suffered an injury that will keep him out of action until the second quarter of 2020. Now, Adesanya is expected to meet Yoel Romero in his first title defense. Of course, that hasn’t stopped Costa from taking shots at the champion.
Speaking on “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show,” Adesanya spoke about the potential clash with Costa. “Stylebender” suggested the matchup reminds him of Aldo vs. McGregor in 2015. (H/T BJPenn.com)
“You know one thing that fight reminded me of? McGregor-Aldo,” Adesanya said.
Adesanya refused to go into specifically why he thinks it reminds him of Aldo vs. McGregor, saying he’ll save it for when the time comes. Despite the setback, Adesanya believes he’ll meet Costa inside the Octagon down the line one way or another.
“It will happen. I know how to push his buttons. He’s such a meathead, I can push his buttons and make him do what I want him to do. Counter him,” Adesanya said. “People were always used to my linear attacks, they didn’t know about my lateral attacks. My hooks.
“They thought when I started countering Rob, they forget that’s what I first started doing when I started kickboxing. I was a counter striker. I went back to my roots, and I was just hitting from all angles. Like literally hitting him from all angles. Even when I was in ‘The Matrix’, caught him with an uppercut. So Paula is a guy, he’s a really aggressive bull, but I can be a matador.”
What do you think about Adesanya’s claim that a future fight with Costa will be similar to Aldo vs. McGregor?
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