During an interview with "The Schmo,” UFC president Dana White confirmed that the Brazilian recently suffered an injury that will keep him out of the title picture for the foreseeable future.
“He had surgery on his bicep, so he’s out for eight months,” White said. “But we are working on something else with Israel right now.”
Costa was sitting cageside for Adesanaya’s victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 earlier this month and was initially tabbed as the next middleweight title challenger. With “Borrachinha” on the sidelines, it’s unclear who Adesanya could face next.
While “The Last Stylebender” has engaged in a highly-publicized war of words with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, there is no super fight in the works for the Nigerian-born Kiwi.
“He just won the title,” White said. “To do a Jones superfight right now doesn’t make sense. There are guys in his own weight division that he could fight.”