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After his classic five-round war with Kelvin Gastelum at April 13’s UFC 236, interim middleweight champ Israel Adesanya has a target on his head.

One of the fighters who potentially has ‘The Last Stylebender’ in his sights is former champ Chris Weidman. The New York native appeared on today’s episode of ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show’ to discuss the newly-crowned interim champ.

While it may have seemed he threw some shade at Adesanya before UFC 236, he claims he was just pointing out that he hadn’t fought a top five-ranked challenge at that point:

“Listen, people were going nuts on Israel. He’s a very talented guy, he’s got great stand-up. And now I know he’s super-tough after that last fight. But before he fought Anderson Silva, he fought Derek Brunson. He fought Anderson Silva, who’s 44, who’s known as a stand-up guy, which is a perfect match-up for him. And it was a very close fight. It’s either you give a lot of props to Anderson Silva. Or, I don’t know.

“But I think, so at that point, people were saying how he’s the next big thing. I just thought at that point he was overrated. He hasn’t been able to prove himself yet. He hasn’t gone against a top wrestler, he hasn’t fought guys in the top five. So I just thought people were getting ahead of themselves a bit. That was it.”

A Bad Match-Up?

Weidman moved on to express his desire to fight Adesanya. He believes he would be a ‘nightmare match-up’ for the striking-focused star:

“I’m a fan of the guy. I like watching him fight. I would love to fight him. And I think I’m a nightmare match-up for him if you look at the paper. Just based on the paper with my wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and my size, I think I would be a real problem for him.”

Despite that belief, Weidman noted he believes Adesanya is a great fighter. He was merely being realistic before UFC 236:

“But I have nothing but, I think the guy’s awesome. I’m not trying to put him down. I was just being realistic in the situation he had never fought a top-five guy yet up until Kelvin. That was it.”

Impressed By UFC 236

When the fight actually happened, however, Weidman was thoroughly impressed like most everyone else. He gave praise to both fighters and claimed it was one of the best fights he had ever seen:

“I was extremely impressed, I thought Adesanya was a tougher match-up for Kelvin than Whittaker was. I just thought the size and everything, the length, and how good he is standing, it was a little tough for Gastelum. Just because Gastelum hasn’t been a guy who has been looking to take it to the ground in a long time.

“But both of those guys put it on the line and I have a crazy amount of admiration for both of those guys, what they did in that fight. I think that might have been one of the best fights I’ve ever seen, so I give nothing but props to both of them. It was unbelievable watching that fight.”

The post Chris Weidman Says He’s ‘Nightmare Match-Up’ For Israel Adesanya appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Recently, it’s been a strange, winding road to a UFC return for hulking middleweight Paulo Costa.

The rising star was set to face former title contender Yoel Romero at last November’s UFC 230. But the fight fell by the wayside when Romero needed more time to heal from facial injuries from his last fight. Then, Costa was reportedly prevented from being licensed by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) anyway due to an issue with a stomach medication he took.

That’s left ‘Borrachinha’ out of action since last July’s UFC 226. While the whole situation is a confusing one full of twists and turns, he’s apparently ready to fight again. Speaking on today’s episode of ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,’ Costa said he’s still targeting a fight with Romero. He just doesn’t think the Cuban will accept.

“Yeah, I’m ready to fight in May, or June, or July. But I want to fight very soon as possible. And I’d like to fight against Romero. But man, Romero doesn’t want to fight against nobody. Because he’s number one. He’ll sit there and wait there for I don’t know what. I don’t know what’s happening in his mind. He need fight. He’s 40 year old, and he’s not fight against nobody. I don’t understand what’s happening in his mind.”

Another Fight With Romero?

Costa was asked by Helwani if the UFC had offered him a future match-up with Romero. He said they had, but it was for this upcoming weekend’s card in Florida, again creating that confusing timeline.

“Yes, on 27^th of April. And I accept and I sign my contract. And, not happening.”

Most thought Costa was unable to fight on the card due to his issues with the NYSAC, yet he claimed that apparently was not true. When Romero pulled out of his replacement main event at UFC Ft. Lauderdale, Costa was tabbed as a replacement. He wasn’t sure what happened with Romero. He just couldn’t cut 40 pounds in 20 days to make the fight:

“Man, I don’t know exactly what happened. And UFC call me to fight Jacare, but short time, I cannot lost too much weight. The kilos, is like 20 kilos in 20 days – it’s crazy.”

USADA Stories Not True

Romero previously claimed Costa had failed a USADA drug test, a claim which he then walked back. Costa clarified that, claiming Romero was a ‘bad guy.’ He said he never used steroids or anything to cheat the game:

“It’s not true. Romero is a bad guy. He put this story in the air. But it’s not true. I never use steroids in my life, I never use anything to cheat the game. I feel badly in my stomach. Stomach ache. I use medication, is normal, is not to encourage performance. But I cannot speak a lot about this while the commission, I need to wait for New York Commission to close the case.”

There was confusion about whether or not Costa can actually fight because he said he needed to wait for the NYSAC to close it before commenting. His coach Eric Albarracin clarified he would be back soon:

“They’re going to resolve the case and he’ll be back in no time.”

Free To Fight?

Costa kept the confusion rolling, however, when he said he was free to fight while simultaneously claiming the case was yet to be closed. The first time his bout with Romero was canceled was due to his opponent’s injury:

“No, I’m free to fight. November, this fight was postponed because Romero broke his face.”

The situation took another turn when Albarracin ‘clarified’ that Costa could have fought on April 27th even though the NYSAC initially said he could not. Somehow he got back in time, but ultimately couldn’t cut the weight required:

“I think what he’s saying is the only time he was penalized was that April 27^th, where they said, ‘Hey, we gotta resolve this before we can accept and allow you to accept this fight.’ Then they gave it to Jacare and Romero got hurt. And then he was already back in. But like he said, he had to lose about 40 pounds in 20 days, and the coaches got together and advised, ‘That’s too short of a time.’ Because he was just training to maintain.”

Stomach Issues

Costa expanded on the stomach medication that got him into the issue, noting that he has problems when he cuts weight:

“Sometimes, because I cut a lot of weight, sometimes I not feel good to eat after the weigh-in. I feel nauseous. I cannot eat.”

With the medication seemingly forcing him out of his original April date with Romero supposedly being closed now, Costa said his troubles were nearly over with:

“Of course, of course. It’s almost.”

So Costa and his team say they cannot comment much more on the case but that he could have fought on April 27th had he only been able to cut the weight. It’s a bit contradictory on the surface, adding to an already confusing set of circumstances.

Many fans have accused Costa of trying to game the system, and unclear timelines like this don’t help. He of course says that is far from the truth. Which side are you on?

The post Paulo Costa: I’ve Never Used Steroids Or Anything To Cheat appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

It’s safe to say newly-minted interim UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has taken the mixed martial arts (MMA) world by storm since his UFC debut in February 2018.

‘The Last Stylebender’ has won an incredible six straight fights in that time, an almost unheard of number in such a short span in today’s UFC. The run was culminated by his thrilling decision win over Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 236 from Atlanta, Georgia.

After the win, Adesanya largely gained the praises of the collective MMA world. However, there were two high-profile names who weren’t impressed with ‘The Last Stylebender.’ One, of course, was UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who continued his social media beef with Adesanya before abruptly calling it off.

The other was middleweight contender Paulo Costa, who called out Adesanya for being a ‘fake champ.’

“Really this is the interim (fake) champ? Hahah. No doubt this weight division has already been better than this (expletive). Enjoy this while you can man, I really hope that you take the real belt one day to meet me. Note: And I’m not the Gastelum.”

Adesanya Fires Back At Costa

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Adesanya had a heated response for Costa’s callout. He noted that the hulking Brazilian only wished he was a so-called ‘fake champ’ like him:

“Fake champ? Does he have belt?. He wishes he was a fake champion as well” Adesanya laughed. “Didn’t he get popped for something recently? Like Açaí in the stomach or something? I just want to get him before USADA gets him and eventually, if he climbs up the ranks like he thinks he will, then eventually we’ll see each other. Gastelum is a tough guy and he got touched up by Uriah. Did you see his face after the Uriah fight? He got touched up.”

“But, hey, even Chris Weidman gave me props. He gave me props when it was due. So, a guy like [Costa] is salty. He’s salty because I’m the one getting the shine so they’re trying to steal my shine and I’m like ‘f*ck no.’”

Bring On The Haters

Overall, Adesanya knows that with great success, there will always be haters. He boldly compared his situation to that of one Jesus Christ:

“If you ain’t got haters then you ain’t doing it right,” Adesanya said. “Before me, there was Jesus. I’m not saying I’m even close, I’m just saying no matter who you are you’re going to have haters. I just welcome it now.”

As for Costa, he’s been embroiled in a strange situation with the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) that has left him unable to fight due to a stomach medication issue. He’s been out of action since facing Uriah Hall last July as a result. ‘Borrachinha’ has long been linked to a fight with Yoel Romero, but it has yet to materialize at this point.

Adesanya, meanwhile, will move on to a huge title unification fight with undisputed middleweight champ Robert Whittaker later this year.

The post Israel Adesanya Hopes He Gets ‘Salty’ Paulo Costa Before USADA Does appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC recently shifted their pay-per-view (PPV) broadcasts to streaming service ESPN+. Brendan Schaub appears to be one of the staunchest critics of it.

It’s been a move that has been met with mixed reviews, to put it lightly. The fact that customers now have to go through two paywalls to get to the PPV broadcast is at the center of the complaints. Fans must first pay $4.99 to subscribe to ESPN+ then pay $59.99 plus tax for the PPV. But that was far from the only complaint about the change.

Several streaming issues arose when the first PPV streamed on ESPN+ with last weekend’s UFC 236 from Atlanta. Many purchasers complained of poor streams and technical difficulties, which Dana White acknowledged.

According to former UFC fighter Schaub, this is going to cost the UFC. He said on his ‘Below the Belt’ podcast (via Bloody Elbow) that he had family over, and the experience did not go smoothly to buy the PPV:

“Did anyone else have problems with ESPN+? So, I have all the family around. We got food and everything. Everyone ready? Here we go. Click. It goes, ‘This service does not work on this device.’ I’m like, ‘Ok, well, that’s not good.’ Try doing it again. Nothing. Try doing it from my phone. Nothing.

Schaub said it got so bad that he was going to take extreme measures and stream it in a different fashion:

“ESPN, UFC, I’m trying to give you $80. And then finally I went, ‘Yo, if I don’t figure this out in five minutes… I’m going to turn to the dark side and have to illegally stream this.’ I must’ve got 2,000 DMs with different links. When I clicked on that link, that thing was better quality than I had on my f—ng… Than ever!”

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Don't make us turn to the dark side.

A post shared by Below the Belt (@belowthebelt) on Apr 16, 2019 at 9:02am PDT

The knock on the shift to ESPN+ is that casual fans will not go to the lengths required to buy the PPV. In turn, that will limit the amount of exposure great up-and-coming fighters like Israel Adesanya, Dustin Poirier, and Max Holloway will get at an event like UFC 236:

“What’s best for the fighters, what’s best for ‘Stylebender’ and Kelvin Gastelum and Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier is getting as many eyeballs on this thing as possible,” he said. “Not limiting, making people pay behind two paywalls so you’re getting this very small number of diehards that are going to tune into this thing. That’s not the best thing for the fighters.”

Schaub ended with a somber prediction for the UFC’s future if the difficulty with buying the PPV keeps up:

“You’ve just lost so many casual fans. Cause you know what my dad did when I couldn’t figure it out? He went, ‘Who cares? Oh, it’s too much. I’m out.’”

He makes a fair point as many were more than annoyed with the experience last weekend. However, the UFC has signed an exclusive deal with ESPN+ that essentially guarantees a revenue level comparable to 500,000 buys. That’s a good bottom line to start with, so they may not care how many people get mad at the streaming service. Strange business model, but the truth.

The ratings for the event did go down compared to last month’s UFC 235 PPV. The UFC 236 preliminary card got 893,000 viewers and a 0.39 rating, down significantly down from the 1.48 million viewers and 0.63 rating of UFC 235.

Do you believe the UFC will have a legitimate issue on their hands because of ESPN+?

The post Brendan Schaub Slams ESPN+ on PPV: ‘You Just Lost So Many Fans’ appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

GSP’s longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) coach Firas Zahabi is well known for his calm, collected demeanor.

That’s why his latest words my surprise you a bit.

The TriStar front man is preparing to corner his current star pupil Rory MacDonald against fellow UFC vet Jon Fitch in the main event of April 27’s Bellator 220 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. MacDonald has seen a career resurgence of sorts in Bellator.

He won two fights over Paul Daley and Douglas Lima to become the welterweight champion. MacDonald did fail in his attempt to become a two-division champion when he lost to middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi in his previous bout. But the 41-year-old Fitch has quietly racked up a resurgence of his own, something that may have been considered unlikely given his age. He’s won five straight to reach a title shot at ‘The Red King’s’ belt.

Zahabi Sounds Off

Zahabi isn’t buying the reason for it, however. While he rarely talks trash, Zahabi absolutely eviscerated Fitch with accusations of steroid use to DAZN (via MMA Junkie) recently.

“That’s why he had a resurgence,” Zahabi said. “He’s better now than he was before because of his steroids. He had a dip, and then he had a surge.”

A Crime?

The respected teacher called Fitch a flat-out cheater. If he’s on steroids, what he’s doing is a crime to Zahabi:

“In my opinion, let’s be honest: He’s a cheater. We’re not a group of guys playing golf here, we’re not playing soccer here. We’re hitting each other, we’re not hitting baseballs, we’re hitting each other. It’s highly immoral. It’s a crime in my opinion. Truth of the matter is, he’s not as good as people think he is. He’s really just a cheater.”

Lax Testing

That makes it seem that Zahabi is even questioning letting MacDonald fight Fitch if he feels that strongly. He admitted he was, and Bellator’s drug testing isn’t enough to stop Fitch’s PED use:

“This is a highly objectable contest, because I know, I feel that for sure if he did it in 2015, here we are in 2019, and he has a title fight, of course he’s going to do it,” Zahabi said. “But we don’t have USADA or VADA testing in Bellator. We only have the testing of the week of the fight, which is very easy to get around. So in my opinion, Fitch is not an authentic fighter.”

In closing, Zahabi slammed Fitch as simply not a good fighter. The only reason he’s doing well is because of all of the ‘juice.’ In fact, he thinks Fitch can’t win without it:

“This guy is a coward,” Zahabi said. “He’s a cheater. At the end of the day, he’s a true coward. In my opinion, he’s not a good fighter. He’s not a competent fighter. He really is just a guy on a lot of juice – he’s a good wrestler, I’ll give him that. But really he really is just a guy on a lot of juice. … The truth of the matter is, he can’t win without it. That’s the truth.”

The post GSP’s Coach Destroys Jon Fitch: He Can’t Win Without Steroids appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.