"Let him eat" - Israel Adesanya wants Derek Brunson to fight former nemesis Paulo Costa
Israel Adesanya has suggested that he’d like to see Derek Brunson beat Paulo Costa.
The reigning UFC Middleweight Champion took to his official Twitter account and put forth a tweet regarding both the fighters.
The social media post was a response to the UFC Vegas 22 post-fight interview in which Brunson issued a challenge to Costa.
In his tweet, Israel Adesanya congratulated Derek Brunson on his win against Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 22. He also told the matchmakers to fix a bout between Brunson and Costa as well.
“I like this Derek. Congrats on another one. Feed Costa to him, let him eat!!” said Israel Adesanya.
Derek Brunson is currently on a four-fight winning streak and expressed his willingness to fight the one-time UFC middleweight title challenger.
Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa are no strangers to one another. Adesanya and The Eraser were engaged in an intense war of words heading into their fight at UFC 253 (September 2020).
The UFC Middleweight title fight headlined the event. The Last Stylebender was expected to be the toughest test of Costa’s career and vice versa. However, the bout ended up being a one-sided affair as Adesanya bested The Eraser via a second-round TKO.
Paulo Costa hasn’t competed in an MMA bout ever since. He was booked to face Robert Whittaker at UFC on ESPN 22 (April 17th, 2021) but pulled out due to an illness.
Derek Brunson is also well-acquainted with Israel Adesanya inside the octagon. The current UFC Middleweight Champion scored a spectacular first-round TKO win over Brunson at UFC 230 in November 2018.
Israel Adesanya will be returning to rule the middleweight division after coming up short against Jan Blachowicz
Israel Adesanya faced UFC Light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz for the latter’s title at UFC 259 (March 6th, 2021). The Last Stylebender lost the fight via unanimous decision and suffered the first loss of his professional MMA career.
Adesanya subsequently emphasized that he’ll be coming back to the Middleweight and will look to continue his reign of dominance in the division.