Nigeria’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) grappler, Israel Adesanya pulled off another successful defence of his middleweight world title against Brazil’s Paulo Costa, as the belt holder achieved a technical knockout in the fight he fully dominated, megasportsarena.com reports.
Adesanya was again in sensational well-calculated yet devastating form in the early hours of Sunday to achieve another victory that saw him retain his title during UFC 253 inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
‘The Last Style Bender,’ who declared afterwards that he wants his next opponent to be Jack Cannonier, who fights former champion, Robert Whittaker at UFC 254 on October 24, made short work of Costa with a superstar turn and floored the previously unbeaten Brazilian just above two minutes in round two of the night’s main event.
Both fighters put their 100 per cent records on the line and fought for the UFC’s middleweight belt with great expectations from both camps and plenty of pre-fight jibes, as Costa (13-1) held that Adesanya (20-0) ducked the challenge of former light-heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.
However, the Nigeria-born battler from New Zealand dominated from the outset, attacking the Brazilian’s left leg from the first 10 seconds and set the tone that silenced Costa, who was hit with a counter-punch in the second round and never recovered in a one-sided contest.
Costa, whose four wins in UFC had come via way of KO/TKO, tried to respond in The Octagon, as he landed a couple of kicks, but Adesanya soon wore him down with bruising blows that left cuts on his opponent’s leg at the start of the second round.
Though Costa also opened a cut on the champion’s head, Adesanya quickly saw victory in sight and got on top of his foe, as he dropped to the canvas and struck relentlessly until the referee intervened and stopped the fight.
Fight purists and commentators were left screaming about Adesanya’s greatness, as he pulled off his 100th victory in combat sport, which includes 20-0 in mixed martial arts (MMA) and 9-0 in the UFC as well as 5-1 as a boxer and 75-5 as a kick-boxer.
One of many well-scripted fight reports read in part: “He’s lapped the field in the UFC already and is setting himself up for a long reign on top. He’s got the size and the reach, an incredible variety of strikes and his fight IQ is second to none.
“Adesanya’s kicks tore Costa apart and it started at the opening bell. Adesanya was barely touched in the fight and left Costa a mess. The beginning of the end came when Adesanya hit Costa with a kick to the head. He set it up by going after the legs repeatedly early.
“After the head kick, Adesanya caught Costa with a left hand that dropped him. Adesanya fell into mount and a few hammer fists later, referee Jason Herzog pulled him off and the celebration was on.”
Adesanya roared in the cage: “I told you guys, Anderson Silva left a great legacy and I wanted to do service to the middleweight division. That’s a hard act to follow, but we’re doing the work. I’ve been telling you guys.
“Like [boxer] Roy Jones said, ‘Y’all must’ve forgot.’ Y’all must’ve forgot because of what happened last time [in a win over Yoel Romero]. Oh, ‘He’s so boring.’ And I see you media people, as well, with your little click-bait headlines.”
