Paulo Costa is furious with Israel Adesanya.
After seeing a replay of Adesanya’s lewd post-fight celebration, Costa (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) posted a video to his Instagram, ripping into his UFC 253 opponent and vowing to get revenge for the UFC middleweight champion’s actions.
“I come here to talk about the action the human trash did – the human trash did – after our fight,” Costa said. “I didn’t see when I was down in the cage, but I saw now. I disapprove 100 percent. To me, this is not done now. Nobody will stop me. Nobody can stop me. I am (coming) for you Adesanya. I want my rematch – and you know I’m waiting for you.”
Costa’s anger stems from Adesanya pretending to hump or “rawdog” him, as Adesanya put it, when the fight was stopped. Costa was down on the canvas, hurt from strikes while Adesanya’s pelvic thrusting took place.
In addition to ranting about Adesanya’s mocking celebration, Costa alluded to, but did not elaborate on, “something” that happened before the fight. Costa said he was not “100 percent” against Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), but that if the two fight again, he will be.
“Something happened before the fight,” Costa said. “I’m not (making) an excuse here to my people and my fans. I’ll be 100 percent to fight and make him pay. That’s my words. Save my words.”
The video caught the attention of Adesanya, who posted two responses in the comments.
“I can stop you… again,” Adesanya wrote, along with, “Dislike.”
Check out Costa’s response video below:
UFC 253 took place Saturday at Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The prelims streamed on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
