Paulo Costa says he drank a bottle of wine before title fight with Israel Adesanya

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Former UFC middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa has said that he had drunk a bottle of wine the night before the fight against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

The fight took place at UFC 253 last September at the Yas Islands in Abu Dhabi. The fight was pretty much one-sided as Israel Adesanya chopped down his legs and outstruck him and then knocked him out in the second round.

It was a dominant performance by the Last Stylebender and many believed that the Brazilian would pose a serious challenge for him, but the result went in a totally opposite direction.

Paulo Costa had a hangover?

Speaking on his Youtube channel, Paulo Costa said that he had drunk a full bottle of wine and was hungover, the morning of the fight.

I was kind of drunk [when] I fought, maybe, on hangover,” Paulo Costa said in Portuguese. “I couldn’t sleep because of the [leg] cramps. Keep in mind that the fight happens at 9 a.m. [local time], we have to wake up at 5 to get ready, stretch, wrap the hands. The UFC told us to wake up at 5 in the morning to go to the arena to fight. I hadn’t slept until 2:30.

It was my mistake and I don’t blame anyone else, it was something I chose [to do], but, in order to try to sleep, because I had to sleep since I was awake for 24 hours, I had wine, too much wine, a bottle [of wine] to try to black out. I had a glass and didn’t work. Two glasses, it didn’t work. Half bottle, didn’t work. I had it all.”

Paulo Costa also said that he shouldn’t have been fighting given the circumstances he was in. He also said that the strategy in the locker room of not attacking in the first two rounds was not right.

Aside from the Adesanya fight where many things happened, many factors that didn’t allow me to get there well, it will be the same Paulo of always, going for the knockout at all times,” he said. “That’s who I am. I haven’t changed. The thing is, I was 20, 10 percent of my capacities in the Adesanya fight. We had to change the the strategy in the lockerroom. ‘Don’t attack him, just wait for the first two rounds,’ which was a mistake. Today we know that was a mistake, but talking is easy.

The right thing would have been not fighting the way I was, because I was different. I was different because I was in horrible conditions. I didn’t sleep, I had leg cramps all the time, before walking out to the octagon, in the lockerroom. There are many things we can say, but won’t be the case for this video. But the athletic commission came to the lockerroom twice to check my leg, to remove the oil we had on it to have a massage. But, I’ll say it again, I was very confident. I wanted to fight, I thought I could do it. I just think the strategy was wrong, to not attack him.” (H/T – MMAFighting.com)

Paulo Costa is scheduled to fight former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya on April 16.

Do you guys think Paulo Costa was hungover heading into the Israel Adesanya fight? Let us know in the comments section below.

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