Israel Adesanya claims Paulo Costa is "juiced to the gills"

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya sure knows a thing or two about mind games. The champ has now accused his upcoming opponent Paulo Costa of using steroids. Israel Adesanya has claimed that Costa is “juiced up to the gills” ahead of their fight at UFC 253.

Israel Adesanya will square off against Paulo Costa in the headliner of UFC 253 on August 26. Both Costa and Adesanya are undefeated inside the Octagon and both recorded wins against perennial contender Yoel Romero in their last fights inside the cage.

Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa exchanged verbal jabs throughout the past year and the former believes that their rivalry makes for a compelling pre-fight backstory. Israel Adesanya further accused his opponent of using steroids, stating that he is juiced up and makes for the perfect antagonist in their upcoming fight.

“I think it’s great for me, it’s that aesthetic of it, I’m this skinny person, this little frail kid that everyone looks at,” Adesanya said during a pre-fight virtual media day. “And he looks like the perfect antagonist, he’s big, bulky and juiced up to the f*cking gills. He’s a guy that beats everybody on th e fence, so when I come out there with the Bruce Lee sh*t and f*ck him up, it’s going to be ‘oh my god wow, he beat that big muscle boy.'”

“What better antagonist than this guy, who was undefeated, a KO artist, he looks the way he does, ballooned up,” he said in another UFC 253 pre-fight interview. “It’s like David and Goliath. I (expletive) this guy up, and it’s just spectacular. As they say: Someone’s 0 has got to go. It’s a beautifully set up story. You couldn’t write this (expletive). You could, but it’s real.”

Catch a glimpse of Israel Adesanya's interview below:

Calling Paulo Costa "the perfect antagonist," @stylebender loves the aesthetic of a skinny guy "doing Bruce Lee s---" to a "big muscle boy." pic.twitter.com/iHAaTFpEJg

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 19, 2020

Israel Adesanya's star just keeps soaring higher in the UFC. Since joining the promotion, the Nigerian born Kiwi native never failed to impress, notching up one win after another en-route to the summit of the 185lbs division. Adesanya KO'ed former champion Robert Whittaker to become the king of the middleweight division and will be looking forward to proving his doubters wrong once again by defending his title against Brazilian knockout artist Costa.