Israel Adesanya officially closes Paulo Costa chapter; tells him how to deal with loss

It seems that we have finally seen the last of Israel Adesanya – Paulo Costa rivalry, at least for the near future. Israel Adesanya displayed a striking masterclass at UFC 253, knocking out the much-touted Paulo Costa in the second round after outclassing his Brazilian foe on September 27th in Abu Dhabi.

Israel Adesanya isn't planning on seeing Paulo Costa again anytime soon. pic.twitter.com/qR4uLiMVCK

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) October 16, 2020

The bad blood leading up to the fight had both fighters exchanging stinging verbal jabs with each other. While Israel Adesanya questioned Costa’s striking technique and stamina, Paulo was equally ferocious in pointing out Israel’s lack of expertise on the ground. The feud reached its pinnacle with Israel Adesanya doing a “dog hump” celebration after knocking out Costa and the verbal jabs continued between the two after the fights with many criticizing Israel Adesanya for his antics.

Israel Adesanya though, in a recent interview has finally put to bed the feud. Speaking with BT sport, Israel Adesanya stated he is “done with” Costa, wishing him “all the best in life and clarity in his pursuit of happiness”.

Izzy further speculated that he does not see Costa coming back to the top as “he is going to be chasing that ghost for the rest of his life”. Israel Adesanya further suggested that Costa should now ply his trade in the light heavyweight division as the weight cut to 185 might be too “hard and drastic” for the Brazilian.

What the future might hold for Costa remains to be seen, but it seems that Israel Adesanya on the other hand has plenty of options going forward.

His year-long scuffle with Jon Jones over social media seems to be gaining momentum with the possibility of a super fight between the two solidifying as more and more eyes are attracted towards this dream encounter. #1 Welterweight contender Gilbert Burns is the latest to add fuel to this fire predicting a win for Israel Adesanya at any weight class against Jon Jones.

Izzy had also shown interest in fighting Jared Cannonier if the “Killa Gorilla” can pull off an impressive win against former Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 254.

The reaper, however, is sure to get a rematch against Israel Adesanya if he manages to get a win over Cannonier.

We will have to wait till UFC 254 to get clarity on the future of the Middleweight championship but for now, at least, the Costa – Adesanya story seems to have run its course.