Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 253 live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app.
Paulo Costa
was expected to bring the fight to Israel
Adesanya at UFC
253.
Instead, the hulking Brazilian spent the majority of the
middleweight championship bout either absorbing pinpoint strikes or
taunting his opponent before falling via second-round technical
knockout at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi this past Saturday night.
All told, “Borrachinha” landed just 12 significant strikes before
the contest was called at the 3:59 mark of Round 2.
It was a far cry from the blitzing middleweight whose aggressive
style had resulted in 11 professional victories via knockout or
technical knockout.
“So much for ‘Fight of the Year’ – it was ‘Domination of the
Year,’” White said at the UFC 253 post-fight news conference. “It
was weird because if you look at every other fight that Costa has
had, he comes out and goes after people like they owe him money. I
think he landed one jab in this fight. He didn’t try to clinch on
the fence, didn’t try to put pressure, kept going back to the
center of the Octagon. It was very weird.”
Costa released a series of statements, both in English and
Portuguese, via social media on Monday where he promised to remain
focused on capturing the UFC middleweight title in the future.
“I’m here to say thank you for all the support. I’m back already,
stronger and smarter,” he said in a video posted on Instagram. “We
had some mistakes and the next time I will be better and I will get
my gold. I’m not here to [make excuses]. Something happened, but it
doesn’t matter. I’m focused on my goal.
“I’m relaxed because I know what I can do here in this division,”
Costa added on his Instagram story. “I will still [fight at] 185 to
fight him again. I will fight him again sooner and he knows. I will
bring back with all my weapons, OK?”
Costa earned a title shot with a hard-fought decision victory over
Yoel
Romero at UFC 241, an effort where he went toe-to-toe with one
of the promotion’s most feared fighters. White expected a “Fight of
the Year” contender at UFC 253 if that version of Costa arrived in
the Octagon. Of course, the brilliance of Adesanya might have had
something to do with making Costa look ordinary.
“If he fought the way he fights – I mean look at the way he fought
Yoel
Romero, one of the most dangerous guys ever, and then he stays
on the outside, taking damage to that front leg,” White said. “Then
when he does rush in and get him up against the cage, he backs out
to the center of the cage again.
“[He] never tried to get in the clinch. I think he only landed one
jab, didn’t really thrown any punches when [Adesanya] threw kicks.
It was very weird. I just sat there going, ‘Holy s—t.’ Obviously
Adesanya went to work, pieced him piece by piece, made it look
really easy.”
