Could Paulo Costa’s next fight be against Derek Brunson?
The recent challenger for the UFC Middleweight title has been trying to find ways to get a rematch against Israel Adesanya; however, the likely chance that Costa gets an immediate rematch against Adesanya is very slim.
With a rematch nixed, Costa is surely looking to rebound following his lopsided loss, thus a match-up against Derek Brunson could be in the near future. The fellow middleweight actually called out the Brazilian for Dec. 12, which is UFC 256:
Back in 2017, Costa actually tried to get a fight with Brunson; however, the 36-year-old rejected the idea as he believed that Costa was on steroids and posed no threat to him whatsoever. Despite the loss to Adesanya, Costa still remains in the No. 2 slot in the middleweight division, whereas Brunson is at No. 7.
Thus far, Brunson has called out Costa three times, but the Brazilian has yet to respond to any of them. There’s no word on what the future holds for Costa, but with any chance of an immediate rematch against Adesanya dead then he’ll surely be looking to fight a top tier competitor to get back on track.