Video: Watch the final staredown between Adesanya and Costa before UFC 253

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The last staredown between middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and title challenger Paulo Costa got a bit heated.

Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa had to be separated in their final staredown ahead of UFC 253.

On Friday morning, both Adesanya and Costa successfully made weight for their upcoming middleweight championship fight. Following the conclusion of the weigh-ins, every fighter on the card faced off for the last time before the event.

After both men shook the hand of UFC President Dana White, Adesanya and Costa stood in front of each other for just a few seconds before things got heated. Costa, who was wearing a black belt, decided he wanted to give his opponent a white belt as a gift. The white belt was tossed to Adesanya, who caught it and threw it right back, which almost resulted in the two men coming to blows right there on stage.

Luckily, it did not reach that point because the UFC staff was right there to separate Adesanya and Costa from one another.

You can watch the staredown above.

Adesanya brushed off the move as “theatrics” and continued to exchange words with Costa until both men were cleared to leave.

Earlier this week, Adesanya and Costa were talking about their grappling skills during a pre-fight press conference. They traded barbs over each other’s jiu-jitsu, and both men were adamant they were better at grappling than one another, so it made perfect sense that Costa would do something like this as a final pre-fight dig at the champion.

Adesanya and Costa are set to meet in the main event of UFC 253 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.