• ‘My African blood, a great motivation’
• Yas Fight Island, Abu Dhabi is battleground on Sunday
Nigerian born, New Zealand-based UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has predicted an easy victory over Brazil’s Paulo Costa, as he prepares to defend his title on Sunday at Yas Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
‘The Last Stylebender’, as Adesanya is fondly called, said yesterday during an interview monitored on Supersports that the African blood that is flowing in his vein always gives him great motivation whenever he steps inside the ring.
Adesanya, who has Africa’s map boldly inscribed on his chest, is two days away from defending his gold strap for the second time against Brazil’s Paulo Costa. The two fighters have no love lost for each other and fans expect the fight to be explosive.
![[FILE] Israel Adesanya avoids a punch from Paulo Costa during their UFC middleweight championship bout at UFC 253 on September 27, 2020 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Adesanya-v-Costa-by-MMA-Fighting-120x86.jpg "Costa mocks Adesanya ahead UFC 287 rematch with Pereira 5")
The elite 185-pound fighters will meet on Yas Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. The fight was to take place back in March, but Costa suffered a bicep injury. Both combatants are now sure to deliver massively in the promotion’s Fight Island return.
The 19-0 fighter, Adesanya, is supremely confident in his skills going into the match-up with the heavy-handed Paulo Costa. Adesanya believes he possesses the necessary style to triumph over Paulo’s bullish pressure.
“All I see, it’s gonna be an early finish for me or it’s gonna be a late finish for me, like fourth round,” Adesanya said. “But I see myself taking him out early because he’s gonna be overconfident thinking he can just walk through my shots, same way like a lotta other guys have. They think ‘I don’t see no pop in his punches, he doesn’t have any power, he’s too skinny.”
The City Kickboxing standout doubled down on his experiences when he steps in to fight his opponents. Additionally, Adesanya has a depth of experience facing different types of opponents, having around 80 kickboxing bouts.
The middleweight champion said: “They’re always surprised, the first few exchanges, they’re always surprised. They get cracked and they’re like ‘Oh!’ It’s like an involuntary body response, they’re body just goes into shock like I wasn’t expecting that. I hope he comes with that attitude cause he’s gonna be in for a rude awakening before he goes to sleep.”
On paper, it certainly seems likely that one of the aforementioned fighters will be robbed of their consciousness given their styles.
UFC President, Dana White, has long proclaimed the bout to be a candidate for the “Fight of the Year.” Considering their stylistic differences and overall disdain for each other, the fight is a certified firefight in many fans’ minds.”
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