“To be honest, I’d like to really destroy this drunk guy [Costa] that can’t even stay off drinking”.
Marvin Vettori is already thinking about his next opponent just one day removed from his rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 263.
‘The Italian Dream’ suffered another decision loss but sustained no serious damage or injuries and would like to return to the octagon against self-professed drunken middleweight Paulo Costa, who admitted to drinking a bottle of win the night before his TKO loss to ‘The Last Stylebender’ at UFC 253.
“To be honest, I’d like to really destroy this drunk guy that can’t even stay off drinking,” Vettori said of Costa in a post-fight interview with BT Sport (h/t Damon Martin of MMA Fighting). “It’s ‘Borrachinha’ … I’d definitely like to smack this guy.
“I am as game as they come. You can count on me, when there’s a fight and there’s a date, I’ll show up. We’ll see.”
Costa hasn’t fought since his defeat to Adesanya and most recently put the UFC on blast over money issues after withdrawing from a Fight Night card where he was originally scheduled to meet top-five middleweight Jared Cannonier in the main event.
“UFC needs to pay me as main fighter to have fighting in main events. Youtubers are showing all disgrace on this business,” a disgruntled Costa posted on Twitter following Logan Paul’s boxing exhibition with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
If Costa wants to stay relevant he’s going to have to accept another fight, and soon — preferably against another top-ranked contender such as Vettori who, like ‘Borrachinha’, is desperate to get back in the winners’ column.