A potential fight of the year, Dana White and the fans have a lot of expectations from Israel Adesanya vs Paulo Costa. It wouldn’t just be the middleweight title that’ll be on the line, but also the undefeated records of the two fighters. Ahead of the fight, Adesanya feels he bring something completely new to the table for Costa.
While talking to Submission Radio, Adesanya refused to acknowledge that Costa is not one of his toughest challenges. He credited the Brazilian for his pressure style of fighting. A comparatively bigger frame, Costa can walk his opponents down with relative ease.
“He’s good at what he does. He’s very imposing, he’s got size on him. He marches people down and just beats them up against the fence. That’s his game,” Adesanya said while talking about what he finds good in his next opponent.
After taking that out of the way, Adesanya went back to one of the rather overused statements to hype a fight. The former kickboxer asserted that Costa has never faced someone like him in his career. Moreover, he reminded the fans that he has defeated a lot more ranked opponents when compared to ‘The Eraser’.
“It’s a cliche to say before every fight that he’s never faced anyone like me. He’s only beat two guys that are ranked. I beat like four or five guys that are ranked. Six, maybe. I lost count,” he added.
Israel Adesanya praises Paulo Costa
The pairing of the two middleweights looks stylistically perfect on paper. The two have their unique skillsets, both of which comprise mainly of their striking brilliance. Costa has the raw power and an extremely high output rate. He enters the fight averaging 8.43 strikes per minute, higher than anyone else in the business.
Adesanya, on the other hand, is arguably the best pure striker in the UFC right now. His understanding of the game makes him a striking savant, capable of picking anyone apart. The Kiwi also finds certain elements of Costa’s game impressive.
“There’s some stuff that he does that I look at him and I’m like that’s pretty cool. But there aren’t many. There’re many things that I do that I am sure he is amazed,” Adesanya said.
The fight between Adesanya and Costa will headline UFC 253 on September 26. The UFC has not yet revealed the location of the same.
The post “He’s Never Faced Anyone Like Me” – Israel Adesanya Breaks Down Paulo Costa’s Game Plan appeared first on EssentiallySports.
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