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In the lead-up to this weekend's UFC 253 main event between Paulo Costa and Israel Adesanya, the two middleweights had an unexpected encounter in a hallway on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
While there has been a lot of bad blood between the two, Adesanya and Costa were surprisingly civil with each other and praised each other on camera. When asked about the encounter, Borrachinha claimed that he was surprised by the interaction and the way Israel Adesanya conducted himself.
During the UFC 253 media day, Paulo Costa claimed that Izzy had changed his personality when the two met and was completely different from the time they saw each other on video conference. On Fight Island, Adesanya was surprisingly kind and gentle. (H/T: MMA Junkie)
“He changes a lot his personality, his persona. The Adesanya that I saw on the video conference was very disrespectful guy. He show his fingers a lot to me. When I met him upstairs, he was very kind, very gentle. When I saw him I was ready for a different kind of guy. He came and he gave his hand to shake his hand and asked how I’m feeling.”
Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa's much-anticipated bout could be a Fight of the Year encounter
UFC 253 will take place this weekend on Fight Island, and the event headliner will feature Israel Adesanya stepping into the Octagon with Paulo Costa in one of the most highly-awaited Middleweight clashes.
Both Adesanya and Costa are currently undefeated and UFC president Dana White is expecting thei clash to be a Fight of the Year contender.
Adesanya, for one, will be looking to prove a point after his disappointing outing against Yoel Romero at UFC 248. Paulo Costa, who is similar to Romero in terms of striking, will aim to push forward like he typically does. The UFC 253 card will also feature Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes battling for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
