'He legitimately says some of the dumbest stuff I've ever seen in my life' - Daniel Cormier doesn't hold back in criticizing Paulo Costa

MMA legend Daniel Cormier didn’t hold back in criticizing Paulo Costa. Cormier asserted that The Eraser "legitimately says some of the dumbest stuff" he’s ever heard in his life.

Paulo Costa challenged Israel Adesanya for the latter’s UFC Middleweight title at UFC 253 in September 2020. Both men entered the fight boasting undefeated professional MMA records. Adesanya went on to dominate the fight and defeat Costa via second-round TKO.

The aftermath of the fight witnessed Paulo Costa reveal that he was dealing with injury issues heading into the fight, and he probably shouldn’t have taken the fight. Additionally, The Eraser recently let fans in on another issue that adversely affected his performance at UFC 253.

Paulo Costa explained that he was suffering from leg cramps the night before the fight and was unable to sleep. Costa claimed that he drank an entire bottle of wine and tried to knock himself into sleep.

On an edition of ESPN MMA’s DC & Helwani, Daniel Cormier and Ariel Helwani addressed Paulo Costa’s latest revelation regarding his UFC 253 performance –

“It’s a joke. It’s an absolute joke…It’s a joke that he (Paulo Costa) said that he was drunk before a title fight,” Daniel Cormier noted, addressing Paulo Costa’s recent statements about being drunk and/or suffering a hangover at UFC 253.

“He’s out of his mind. Look, man, this dude Paulo Costa, he’s going to want to kill me when he sees me. Because this dude legitimately says some of the dumbest stuff I have ever seen in my entire life. I don’t know who is advising this young man. He’s gonna say he’s drunk. Remember he said some stuff, the first time after the fight, he said some crazy stuff, right? ‘Give me a title fight’…Come one, man. Come on, Paulo Costa. ‘Sign the contract’,” Daniel Cormier said, recalling that Costa, immediately after losing to Israel Adesanya, urged Adesanya to sign a contract and grant him a rematch.

Daniel Cormier continued, “For what? We just saw what happened when he signed the contract. Now he’s talking about being drunk? Ariel, this is the stuff that you say the day after (the fight). ‘Oh, man, I got drunk’, because you didn’t have time to think up an excuse. It took you six months to come up with you got drunk, you drank too much wine? Who told him to put that out there?”

“Somebody needs to slap Paulo Costa. Somebody needs to slap Paulo Costa and be like, ‘Yo, stay away from the microphone, dude’,” said Daniel Cormier (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)

WHAT A STATEMENT 🙌Israel Adesanya ends the rivalry with Paulo Costa inside two rounds with a dominant display!It was THAT easy 😳 #UFC253 pic.twitter.com/jxdchos1zf

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) September 27, 2020

Daniel Cormier insinuated that Paulo Costa would be better off not making such statements regarding his UFC 253 loss against archrival Israel Adesanya.

Paulo Costa aims to beat Robert Whittaker and then avenge his loss against Israel Adesanya

Robert Whittaker (left); Paulo Costa (right)

UFC Middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya is set to fight UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jan Blachowicz for the latter’s belt at UFC 259 on March 6th, 2021.

Meanwhile, Paulo Costa is scheduled to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Costa on April 17th, 2021. The Eraser has consistently asserted that he aims to work his way back to a UFC Middleweight title shot and avenge his loss against Israel Adesanya.