Paulo ‘Borrachinha’ Costa: Israel Adesanya Has Recently Turned Down Three Fights Against Me

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Totally recovered from a second biceps surgery and already training to fight Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Israel Adesanya, Paulo Henrique Costa revealed in an exclusive interview with Sherdog Brazilian correspondent Marcelo Alonso that the champion has turned down three different proposals to face the No. 1 challenger: July August and October.

“He is probably afraid to face me in the smaller Octagon of Apex,” Costa said of the smaller cage installed at the UFC’s in-house facility in Las Vegas. “But sooner or later he will stop running.”

Paulo also analyzed Adesanya’s most recent bout against Yoel Romero and talked about the best fighters in the middleweight division that he could fight in case of an interim title. “Borrachinha” then discussed a hypothetical move to light heavyweight for a showdown with pound-for-pound king Jon Jones.