Paulo Costa calls UFC referee Jason Herzog a "fake professional" over eye poke decision, Israel Adesanya trolls

Paulo Costa blasts Jason Herzog; Israel Adesanya responds [Photo credit: @jasonherzogmma on Instagram and @BleacherReport on Twitter]

Paulo Costa called out UFC referee Jason Herzog, but Israel Adesanya won't let him protest in peace.

Costa took to Twitter to accuse Herzog of being a "bad-intentioned" official. The Brazilian pointed out that Herzog was quick to take a point away from him after he poked Adesanya's eye during their 2020 bout, but didn't do the same to Sean O'Malley for the same foul he committed on Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276.

"Jason Herzog this guy is bad intentioned," Costa wrote. "I repudiate this kind of fake professional. He took 1 point from me in the very first unintentional eye poke. And guess what, fate is cruel. The eye poke much more serious that Pedro received he didn't get a point. You son of a b***h."

Check out Paulo Costa's tweet below:

Jason Herzog this guy is bad intentioned. I I repudiate this kind of fake professional. he took 1 point from me in the very first unintentional eye poke. and guess what, fate is cruel. the eye poke much more serious that pedro received he didn't get a point. you son of a bitch https://t.co/lshPGa3xKF

Adesanya caught wind of his former opponent's rant and saw it as an opportunity to troll him. The reigning UFC middleweight champion responded by reminding Costa of one of the most embarrassing moments of his career:

"I know right… He stopped me only after 2 pumps!!"

Check out the tweet below:

I know right…🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️
He stopped me only after 2 pumps!! twitter.com/borrachinhamma…

Adesanya's reference pertained to his infamous post-fight antics against Costa at UFC 253. After finishing the Brazilian via technical knockout, 'The Last Stylebender' proceeded to insult him by dry-humping him from behind.

Israel Adesanya defends his celebration against Paulo Costa

Although many found Israel Adesanya's dry-hump celebration funny, a huge segment of the fanbase believes it was distasteful and disrespectful to Paulo Costa.

However, Adesanya doesn't seem to care what people think of him. Responding to his critics, the Nigerian-born Kiwi told MMA Fighting:

"I couldn’t give a f**k what they think, to be honest. I didn’t even think about it, I didn’t even plan it. It was just justified. Like, you know when you’re on ‘Call of Duty’ and you smoke someone with a head shot and then you go over them and then press circle, down, up, down, up, kind of tea bag them. That’s kind of what I did. What it is, is homophobia. People are just mad ‘why are you doing that, you’re not a man’ cause they feel inadequate. Questioning their own sexuality.”

It's safe to assume that humping Costa appears to be one of 'Izzy's' favorite trolljobs. He even turned it into an NFT (non-fungible token) so he could wear it around his neck.

Check out the tweet below:

NFTings https://t.co/NhYG58MvHA