Adesanya fires back at Costa
New Zealand UFC star Israel Adesanya has hit back at Paulo Costa for labelling him a ‘‘shameful champion’’.
Adesanya copped a roasting for his dull title defence against an unwilling Yoel Romero in Las Vegas last weekend as he cruised to a unanimous points win.
Costa, his likely next opponent, ripped into the middleweight star for his cautious approach, saying: ‘‘Adesanya is nothing. Adesanya is the most shameful champion I have seen ever. He just ran. He’s nothing. He’s nothing. He’s scared.’’
Adesanya says he is willing to accept a challenge from Costa, believing the Brazilian’s come forward style will play into his hands.
‘‘Trust me, I’m going to have fun with him. I’m going to f...ing roast him like a Sunday pig,’’ Adesanya said.
‘‘He sucks at trying to talk trash as well. He’s easily influenced. I can flick his nose and you’ll see him bark at the cage. Like he’s too emotional. I already know how that fight’s going to go. I’m going to sleep that guy.
‘‘I’ve had a lot of kickboxing fights, his reach, his arms when he lets them down reaches his waist. I’ll pick him apart. He’s a guy that I’ll definitely jab, pick apart, catch him and then knock him out.
‘‘I’m looking to that fight now more than ever. Cause I actually get a guy that’s going to not stand there and do like the 52 blocks at me.
‘‘He’s actually going to come forward, have pressure and get hit by me a lot.’’
A July meeting has been talked of and Adesanya is comfortable with that.
‘‘That sounds good to me. July’s my birthday month. We’re in March, yeah I can do that.’’
Adesanya took to his social media channels to express his feelings later on.
He posted a photo of himself ‘‘unscathed’’ yesterday morning (NZT). That followed a post where he felt he had been involved in the ‘‘best title fight in history’’ against American Kelvin Gastelum and the ‘‘worst title fight in history’’ against Romero.
He also paid some belated credit to Romero for taking the kicking punishment delivered, saying he is ‘‘made of steel’’ with a photo of Romero’s severely swollen right leg.
‘‘He has a good poker face. He’s playing. The legs didn’t lie. I f...ked his leg up,’’ Adesanya said in a backstage interview.