Israel Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman reveals the truth about rumors on 'The Ultimate Fighter' role with Paulo Costa
Joe Rogan recently stated on his podcast that he heard about Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa being the coaches when The Ultimate Fighter returns later this year. While UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya is set to fight Paulo Costa at some point in 2020, there hasn't been any other confirmation as such.
Speaking to Submission Radio (H/T MMA Fighting), Israel Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman said that he never heard anything about an opportunity in The Ultimate Fighter for his top student:
“100%, I don’t know anything about it. No one has ever proposed it to me, I’ve never had any documentation, I’ve never had any electronic documentation saying anything about it at all. Joe Rogan, knows a lot more about it than me. So you can take that how you want it but it probably means that Joe Rogan’s source of information is not good.”
Bareman said that the decision to have Israel Adesanya possibly participate in The Ultimate Fighter would be a business one:
“For The Ultimate Fighter to happen, a lot more would have to be done. Really, the decision for me would be a business decision. Like, how much would that help Israel make money? If it added greatly to his backend, to his pay-per-view, that might be worth giving it a go, even though the stories that we heard from The Ultimate Fighter are that it’s a hard time. It’s quite a hard time. It’s not the most enjoyable time but if it makes dollars, it makes sense. These guys got to scrap for every dollar they can so that’s what I base my decision on, if it comes down to it. But it’s not a discussion point at the moment because it needs to come over my desk and nothing has come over my desk in regard to that.”
Israel Adesanya's upcoming title defense
After Israel Adesanya dethroned Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in Melbourne last year, he was all set for a clash against Paulo Costa. However, Costa suffered an injury and was expected to be out for over half a year, which meant that the UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya didn't want to wait for so long.
Instead, Israel Adesanya requested the UFC to book him against Yoel Romero, who was coming off two straight losses. It was the main event of UFC 248 and was widely regarded as a disappointment as there wasn't much damage dished out by either side.
UFC President Dana White expressed regret booking the fight afterward, stating that they should have waited for Paulo Costa to return.