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Israel Adesanya has just poleaxed Paulo Costa in his recent title defense at the headliner of UFC 253. Taking out the Brazilian via knockout in the second round, the ‘Last Stylebender’ has sent a stern message to the entire middleweight division.

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It was Adesanya’s second successful title defense, since he claimed the belt from Robert Whittaker at UFC 243.  In the meantime, Adesanya has cleared off almost half of the middleweight division with an undefeated run of nine fights in the UFC.

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While many people billed Paulo Costa as the ultimate antidote for him, Israel Adesanya proved them wrong. In the post-fight press conference, he revealed when exactly he got hold of the contest and knew it was his night.

Israel Adesanya knew how to erase ‘The Eraser’

It was a short-lived fight of two rounds where Costa couldn’t offer anything from his side. Apart from some verbal mockery and a mere showoff, Costa didn’t have much in store. After putting a heavy beat down in the first round, Adesanya sealed the victory in second with a knockout.

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That said, Adesanya knew how Costa’s game plan won’t matter. The ‘Last Stylebender’ says that he had decoded Costa’s antics in the first round.

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“After the first round. I was so fresh, I looked over and I could see he was sitting down and in the second round his antics were still-what they want is, they just want me to stand there. ‘You come, come, here, why are you running, come here, no here’. You just want me to stand there so you can punch me,” said Adesanya.

Adding some more mockery, the middleweight champion said, “I am not stupid, dummy. I told you he is dumb, I am smart. I understand this f*** game”.

As Adesanya enters his 20 undefeated win of pro-MMA career, he also celebrates it as his 100 win in combat sports. He has come a long way to become the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.

“I am not  a f*** baby in this game. I have been doing this s*** for a long time, for a goddamn long time and I am still fresh. I am 31, I look like I am 26. I am still fresh,” said Adesanya.

Following the win over Costa, Adesanya will now look forward to defending his belt against the winner of Robert Whittaker vs Jared Cannonier. Dana White has already passed the green-signal.

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Raj Sarkar

3,299 Articles

Raj Sarkar is a UFC Sub-Group Head at EssentiallySports. Over the last four years, Raj has worked in several leading sports organizations. During this time, he has interviewed big names from the world of MMA and Boxing. His interviewees list includes ex-UFC stars Demetrious Johnson and Rory MacDonald, current UFC stars Andre Fialho and Drew Dober, ONE Championship star Ritu Phogat, PFL CEO Peter Murray, and popular ring girl turned boxer Carla Jade among others. With the wealth of experience he has in the field of combat sports, this Broadcast Journalism graduate is an expert in putting out content tailor-made for his reader base at ES. He is a big fan of strikers like Conor McGregor and Rodtang Jitmuangnon and appreciates devastating knockouts over other finishes. Raj hopes to attend and cover live UFC events. His biggest dream is to interview former UFC double champion Conor McGregor.

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