Rockhold believes Paulo Costa could beat Israel Adesanya to become UFC champion

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold revealed his thoughts on the biggest upcoming fight in the division, Paulo Costa vs Israel Adesanya.

Rockhold believes that Paulo costa will be able to beat Israel Adesanya to become the UFC middleweight champion. The two fighters are set to battle it out at the main event of UFC 253 on September 19.

Both the fighters have been undefeated up until now, and that makes the fight much more exciting, to see who loses the ‘0’ first. Stylistically too, it is a matchup that guarantees fireworks. Paulo Costa has tremendous knockout power and a chin of steel. We witnessed that in his last fight against Romero, which was a definite Fight of the Year contender. Adesanya, on the other hand, is one of a kind striker that has the true potential to be a superstar.

Luke Rockhold expressed his thoughts on the fight during his appearance on Submission Radio.

“I think he could easily do that,” Rockhold said. “You have the bull and you have the matador, and Israel needs to use his length to get the f**k away. That dude, Paulo Costa, he just comes forward, comes forward with everything he’s got. But Adesanya, he moves real well, he evades well and he tags well. So, you never know. Everybody can be hurt.”

The matchup was set much before, but the fight got canceled due to Paulo Costa’s bicep injury. As a result, we got to witness Adesanya’s last fight against Yoel Romero. Although the fight was a rather boring one, the world got to know about Adesanya’s fight IQ and his striking abilities. Adesanya has often been underestimated before his fights, be it against Robert Whittaker, Anderson Silva, or Romero. He has always proved his sceptics wrong, and it will be interesting to see if he can pull another one.

Costa’s coach said “Paulo Costa vs Adesanya will be the greatest middleweight title fight in history” in an interview with BJPENN.com. “These two hate each other, they are at each other’s throats. When we went to UFC 243, Adesanya called him Ricky Martin, and he does look like Ricky Martin but he hits like Mike Tyson. Adesanya will not step out of the cage there, Costa will erase him.”

Luke Rockhold wants Chris Weidman?

Luke Rockhold recently announced that he is not yet done with the sport of MMA, and is eyeing a rematch with Chris Weidman. Their first meeting ended with Rockhold getting a win via knockout, and that was the night he got his hands on the belt. Weidman too, has expressed interest in the rematch, and fans surely have no problem with it.

“I’m looking at whoever’s available in the current climate of when I’m ready,” Rockhold told Submission Radio. “Chris Weidman seems to think he’s back in business. I beg to differ. So, you know, he’s always wanting to run it back, and I wouldn’t mind sending him back.”