UFC: Adesanya defends middleweight title via knockout
Set to face Cannonier
Nigerian-born Israel Adesanya defeated Brazil’s Paulo Costa courtesy of a second-round knockout to retain his UFC middleweight title in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Sunday.
‘The Last Stylebender’ was absolutely flawless in Abu Dhabi, picking apart his far bigger opponent before landing brutal ground strikes in the second round.
Israel Adesanya beat Paulo Costa like say na thief 😂😂 #AdesanyaCosta #UFC253 #IsraelAdesanya
pic.twitter.com/Gm1KDr1l4C— mseworld (@mseworld1) September 27, 2020
Adesanya dominated the first round delivering several leg kicks that caused damage on Costa’s left leg. The Nigerian-born New Zealand fighter finished the bout in the second round after catching Costa with a leg kick in the face and floored him with several punches.
Costa was left bloodied and bruised on the canvas, with his undefeated record in tatters after being picked apart so ruthlessly needing medical attention after the referee waved off the fight.
A performance that saw Adesanya successfully defended his belt as he dominated most part of the rounds with his unique wrestling ability.
“This ain’t bodybuilding. This ain’t Mr. Olympia. I don’t give a f— how you look.”@stylebender spoke about the advantages of being “skinny, bro” on the #UFC253 post show on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/segj2wTERJ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 27, 2020
As expected, the match produced fireworks with the champion scoring a take a down in the first round but the American got himself back from the lock.
Adesanya says he’s aiming to leave a legacy in the division like his mentor, Anderson Silver. He also called out Jared Cannonier for his next fight.
"You know who it is."
🏆 @Stylebender signs off from backstage.
[ #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/iAHBKNQeTJ
— UFC (@ufc) September 27, 2020
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“I said it before, Anderson Silver left a huge legacy in this division and I said I wanted to do service to the middleweight division and that’s a tough act to follow but we’re doing the work,” he said after the fight.
“I already messaged Jared Cannonier, he is a hell of a dude, I love his energy, I said, you destroy Robert Whittaker, you are next. He’s the one I want to fight next.”