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The next challenger for the UFC middleweight title, Paulo Costa has been quite busy over the last few hours. Not only has he been in serious training for his crack at the gold versus Israel Adesanya, but the 29-year-old Brazilian has been posting some interesting videos.
First, Paulo Costa released a training video showing off much-improved muay Thai skills highlighted by blasting 23 power kicks in 12 seconds. They weren't all over the place and sloppy either. They were dead on target and the video also showed off better than ever hand speed, as well as his typical power shots. And it also had some of his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where he has a major advantage over the champion.
Then a short time later he took to twitter and released quite a shoot on Israel Adesanya. Known for his model looks (he has done somebody modeling in the past), he put in some of his work back when he walked around with frosted tips. It continued back and forth of images and poses of his chiseled body along with intertwining Adesanya in it as well. But the champion's face was photoshopped onto a woman's body. It was under the caption "Cmon motherf****rs and can be watched at this link.
As far as the training video goes, here's just a small clip that Paulo Costa tweeted:
Paulo Costa vs Israel Adesanya's Middleweight Title clash at UFC 253
Paulo Costa has always, at least since he dismantled Johny Hendricks, was looked at as just a musclebound thrower. With the step-up in training, he's obviously looking to change that.
The 13-0 fighter before coming to the UFC never went past the 1st round, except in his organizational debut. And as the rounds go on Paulo Costa does have a history of not being as sharp as from the start.
So if Adesaya can keep the fight at a distance, since he has a height and reach advantage, the belt may stay put. But if Costa can get inside, it might be a very short and tough night for the reigning champion. Then again most thought the same thing when he fought Yoel Romero.
Being way above the average Glory Kickboxer; those skills have transferred well for the champ. But Paulo Costa is showing that the gap is getting smaller. While the shooting video may be odd, it's not over the top. Especially for where trolling has gone nowadays. Not exactly in the Chael Sonnen or Conor McGregor school, but effective, humorous, and quite odd.
Will there be a rebuttal video from Adesanya? You can almost bet on it since he's up on all the technical skills needed to make such a video. The UFC 253 main event might also have a stand by fighter ready to go if one can't make it to the UFC Apex octagon on September 19th.
Jared Cannonier is calling his shot wanting to be in that position. The 36-year-old is ranked 3rd and you can't blame him. In theory, he would be next up for that winner and if that does come to fruition, his fight scheduled in October versus former champion Robert Whittaker would be put on hold. Which then may open up the door for Jack Hermansson to slide into that fight.
