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At UFC 253, Israel Adesanya won perhaps the most anticipated fight of the year by putting on a striking clinic and knocking out Brazilian Paulo Costa. Costa came into the fight with a lot of momentum and hype but Israel Adesanya put a hard stop to it.
While Israel Adesanya earlier in the week had stated that the saga with Paulo Costa is over and the fight is behind him now, in an interview with Combat TV, he opened up about a brief discussion he had with Costa’s coach after their bout in September.
On being asked about what he said to Costa’s coach, the Kiwi replied, “I said something nice, I said I like what you did with (Henry) Cejudo...and he said to me we are coming for Volkanovski next”.
Israel Adesanya was not impressed by this at all and called it “ a sh*t thing to do while your fighter is knocked out”.
Israel Adesanya also stated that he had no resentment against Costa. While calling him “delusional” Izzy clarified that Costa had a lot of ‘yes men’ surrounding him before the fight who were 'blowing smoke up his a**’. This, Izzy thought, led to the Brazilian’s downfall against him in September.
Izzy also commented that he messaged Costa stating the same and that he hopes Costa makes the necessary personnel changes in his corner going forward in his career.
Israel Adesanya on fighters who miss weight
Israel Adesanya was also asked about fighters missing weight as was the case with Ludovit Klein who went on to beat Izzy’s teammate Shane Young on the preliminary card of UFC 253. Izzy mentioned that missing weight was nothing short of “cheating” and that he saw the fighter “not doing anything” in the 90 minutes allotted by the UFC to fighters who miss weight on their first attempt.
Israel Adesanya further commented that fighters who missed weight should be fined 90% of their fee as compared to the current norm of 20 to 30% deduction. He added that fighters make way more money outside the UFC and a 30% cut in the purse would hardly affect them.
Izzy further stated that keeping in mind the training camps that the fighters have, it is impossible to miss weight until a fighter wants to do so. He cited his example stating that he has never missed weight in MMA or kickboxing.
While his social media banter with Jon Jones continues, Israel Adesanya is expected to defend his belt next against the winner of the Robert Whittaker – Jared Cannonier fight at UFC 254.
