Will Paulo Costa be the man to finally take down Israel Adesanya?
Coming in undefeated, the Brazilian has shot his way up the middleweight division thanks to his dominant and explosive wins over Oluwale Bamgbose (via TKO at UFC 212), Johny Hendricks (via TKO at UFC 217), Uriah Hall (via TKO at UFC 226), and Yoel Romero (via unanimous decision at UFC 241). Out of his 13 fights, Costa has won by TKO in eleven of those bouts. Could the magic number be 12 on Sept. 26?
Adesanya also enters the bout undefeated and has beaten the longest reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva, The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum, and ended the two-year reign of Robert Whittaker. Adesanya is no stranger to getting TKO wins over his opponents as the 31-year-old has dropped 14 fighters throughout his career.
A five-round clash between the top fighters in the division will definitely put both men to the test. For Adesanya, it’ll continue to cement his claim as the best middleweight in MMA if he can drop an undefeated Costa. For Costa, the Brazilian will prove that he’s more than just hype by doing what Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero, and Anderson Silva couldn’t do.
Check out the training regime of both fighters below: