Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight contender, Paulo Costa, wants current interim 185-pound titleholder, Israel Adesanya, to unify the division titles by defeating Robert Whittaker in the UFC 243 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this weekend inside Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
A win for “The Last Stylebender” will give the Brazilian bruiser a chance to get his much-desired revenge for all the shit that’s been talked over the last few months — most of it from Costa — while securing the middleweight title in the process.
“It’s personal with Adesanya,” Costa told reporters in Anaheim. “Because Adesanya talks shit about me too. He say I have ‘dinosaur arms.’ So, it’s personal. He’s very skinny, he not have a chance against me. I can kill that guy!”
There’s just one teeny, tiny little problem.
Adesanya is currently embroiled in a social media war with current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who coincidentally (or not) remains unbooked. Reports that “Bones” would face Jan Blachowicz or Stipe Miocic were promptly debunked when the promotion scheduled the power-punching Pole for a Ronaldo Souza showdown.
Miocic, meanwhile, will complete his trilogy with Daniel Cormier.
There is no one in the light heavyweight Top 5 (see it here) who Jones hasn’t already beat or who is not already booked to compete at an upcoming event. And now UFC President, Dana White, is out there telling the mainstream media that he’s willing to give Adesanya the opportunity to move up in weight for a champion vs. champion “super fight.”
“Yeah!” White told Sky Sports New Zealand about booking Jones vs. Adesanya. “I mean those guys have been talking smack back and forth. If Israel wins and he really does want to fight Jon Jones, that’s a really big fight.”
I can’t imagine Costa would be content to just sit on the sidelines until further notice, even though he’s likely to need a few months to heal up from his war of attrition against Yoel Romero at UFC 241 last August. And I’ll admit that a potential fight against Robert Whittaker — regardless of whether or not “The Reaper” wins or loses at UFC 243 — remains intriguing, as does a battle of contenders between Costa and the resurgent Jared Cannonier.
I would attribute the promotion’s fascination with “super fights” to the recent IPO debacle from Endeavor — expected to raise beaucoup bucks in the Stockmarket — but UFC was already putting together goofy, cash-grab headliners (like this one) long before Ari Emanuel and Co. made fools of themselves on Wall Street.
Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about any of this just yet. Adesanya is stepping into the cage with one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the promotion and a victory is hardly a foregone conclusion. “The Last Stylebender” would also have to emerge injury free, or without some sort of wonky finish (see Stephens, Jeremy) that would call for an immediate rematch.
Regardless of the outcome, there’s a lot at stake this weekend “Down Under.”