UFC 253 - Israel Adesanya destroys Paulo Costa and calls out his next opponent
In the main event of tonight's UFC 253 pay-per-view, Israel Adesanya shut his doubters for good, as the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion put away the now-former undefeated Paulo Costa almost with ease.
With two undefeated streaks on the line, The Last Stylebender comprehensively got the win for himself via a second-round TKO finish. Adesanya, for the majority of the first round, seemed smooth as usual and landed all his shots on target that eventually saw him put Costa in the third minute of Round #2.
Israel Adesanya puts away Paulo Costa
Heading into tonight's title defense, Israel Adesanya somewhat had a chip on his shoulder, as he was on the back of a disappointing victory over Yoel Romero at UFC 248. So much so, that midway through tonight's main event against Paulo Costa, both Izzy and his opponent mocked The Soldier of God for his title fight antics.
However, things weren't that friendly after all between the two men and as the fight entered Round #2, Israel Adesanya put away Paulo Costa via second-round TKO. Courtesy of his brilliant kickboxing skills, Israel Adesanya damaged his opponent's legs early on in the fight, something that was constantly mentioned by Paul Felder on commentary. With Costa clearly struggling between the two, Israel Adesanya found his openings carefully and picked apart the Brazilian within Round #2.
Opening the round with a high-kick to Costa's face, Adesanya got the job done with a left-counter punch and landed a couple of nasty shots on the defenseless Brazilian while he was down on the mat. The ref eventually made the jump and called-off the fight and there it was, Israel Adesanya had shut his haters up for good with yet another dominant Octagon outing.
Post-fight, Izzy claimed that he is more than ready to defend his strap next against Jared Cannonier if the latter gets past Robert Whittaker at UFC 254.