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Israel Adesanya believes Paulo Costa's superior striking skills will see him breeze past Marvin Vettori.
The middleweight champion thinks Costa will execute the same gameplan that he used against Yoel Romero to outpoint 'The Italian Dream'.
Costa and Vettori are set to collide in the main event of the UFC's October 23 card later this year.
In a video uploaded to Adesanya's YouTube channel FREESTYLEBENDER, he was asked about the outcome of the fight featuring his former foes. According to the 32-year-old, it will be Costa who will get his hand raised.
"Costa (will win the fight)... Costa is just gonna do what he did to (Yoel) Romero type of s**t because Vettori doesn't have the striking ability," said Israel Adesanya.
However, Vettori's "hard head" could help him against Costa in a five-round fight, Adesanya suggested.
Watch Israel Adesanya talk about the Costa vs. Vettori fight below (from the 3:50 mark):
Costa defeated Romero via a unanimous decision in a three-round thriller at UFC 241. While 'The Eraser' ate heavy shots from Romero, he fired back at the Cuban with the same ferocity, mainly relying on his punching power and traditional style of boxing.
Israel Adesanya's masterclass performances against Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori
Israel Adesanya's last two outings at middleweight were against Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa. In both fights, 'The Last Stylebender' put on a flawless performance and convincingly defeated his rivals.
Using his incredible timing and precision, Adesanya made quick work of Costa at UFC 253 last year. It was also his second successive title defense.
After a failure at light heavyweight, Adesanya returned to the 185-pound weightclass to defend his throne for the third time against the challenging Vettori.
Although the Italian was able to go the distance, he didn't cause much trouble to the middleweight champ. After five rounds, all three judges scored the contest 50-45 in Adesanya's favor.
Israel Adesanya is now expected to face Robert Whittaker in a rematch. 'The Reaper' has gone on a string of conquests since his loss to the New Zealander in 2019.
Defeating Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum in his last three fights, Whittaker continues to be at the summit of the middleweight division.
