Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa ran into each other at the Abu Dhabi hotel.
There’s been a lot of back and forth between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa in the last few months. It’s a title bout heavily marketed for their supposed bad blood, and their countless insults and threats even included some gang vs gang talk between the two top UFC middleweights.
As both have already settled in Abu Dhabi’s “bubble” ahead of their UFC 253 event, the pair had the inevitable chance run-in at the hotel. As they briefly faced off, Adesanya and Costa not only kept their cool and remained professional, they actually were pretty friendly towards each other.
Watch the video below, where Adesanya commented on Costa looking skinny, and the challenger laughing to say he instead “looks lean” and “never skinny.”
“Warriors only fight in the cage,” Costa’s manager Wallid Ismail wrote. “They may have a personal problem, but they will solve everything in the octagon.”
The Abu Dhabi “bubble” and fighter hotel is only so big, and the pair again had another cordial run-in soon after.
Adesanya and Costa had another run-in ahead of UFC 253. pic.twitter.com/4LyAVxvx9j
— Anton Tabuena (@antontabuena) September 21, 2020
Whether or not you really care to see that “bad blood,” Adesanya and Costa are two of the best middleweights right now, and they will fight for the belt on September 26.