"There's quit in Paulo Costa and I'm gonna f***ing find that" - Luke Rockhold takes inspiration from Israel Adesanya on how to break 'Borrachinha'

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Paulo Costa (left), Israel Adesanya (centre), Luke Rockhold (right) [Images courtesy of @borrachinhamma on Instagram & mmafighting.com - original credits Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC]

Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has revealed he's channeling his inner Israel Adesanya in preparation for his fight against Paulo Costa.

Rockhold and Costa's careers have been on a similar trajectory as of late. The pair head into their UFC 278 match each on a two-fight skid. Both men's last UFC appearances also saw them making their light heavyweight debuts, coming up short in each.

Rockhold is currently unranked at 185lbs and will face the No.6-ranked Brazilian this weekend. A win for the 37-year-old would arguably be his biggest win against a ranked opponent since he won the 185lb title by defeating Chris Weidman back in 2015.

In an interview with BT Sport ahead of his fight with Costa, the American shared that he's learned from Adesanya's victory over the 31-year-old and intends to do the same:

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"I've been studying him and obviously how Izzy [Israel Adesanya] treated him to win the fight and where he beat him and threatened him. Once you show him who's the bigger man, he crumbles. This man has hit adversity. This is what I love about this fight. I've deal with that adversity in the past... I'm not willing to quit. I'm never willing to let a man better me... There's no quit in me, there's never been quit in me. There's quit in Paulo Costa and I'm gonna f*****g find that."

Catch the full BT Sport interview here:

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Luke Rockhold worried Paulo Costa will miss weight

Luke Rockhold has admitted there's a part of him that's anxious Paulo Costa will miss weight at their UFC 278 weigh-ins.

The Brazilian has a history of struggling to cut weight, particularly against Marvin Vettori in his last fight. The middleweight bout was changed to light heavyweight due to Costa's inability to drop down to the 185lb mark.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the former middleweight champ revealed he's worried about 'Borrachinha' on the scales:

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"He missed weight twice [against Vettori]. He was trying to gain an advantage. I'm not here to fight on unfair terms. So, I want this motherf****r to make weight, or we're gonna make the same exact weight. F**k this s**t. It's gotta be right. It's gotta be fair... Yoel Romero missed weight for a reason, to gain an advantage... There's a lot of cheap a** motherfu****s in this game. I'm not here for that cheapness anymore."

Prior to his three-year hiatus, Rockhold's last appearance at middleweight was against Yoel Romero. The 'Soldier of God' missed weight and became ineligible to win the interim middleweight title but still KO'd the American.

Catch Luke Rockhold on The MMA Hour here:

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