Israel Adesanya claims he has psychological edge over Paulo Costa ahead of their upcoming encounter

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya claims to have gotten under the skin of his next opponent and top contender Paulo Costa.

Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa are set to lock horns in the main event of UFC 253 on September 26. The pair have engaged in several heated verbal exchanges in recent months with the most recent feud occurring during a joint appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Speaking on Submission Radio recently, Adesanya reflected on his encounter with Costa and claimed that he's effectively managed to get under the skin of his opponent.

“I think I’m under his skin already,” Adesanya said (h/t MMA Fighting). “Not really think, I know I’m under his skin already. I kind of wish this was, what do you call it, BC, before corona. I wish it was BC, because that way it would be a press conference around different countries or different cities, and I could see him face to face and I could actually give him sh*t and really dig under his skin. But he’s very easy to get under his skin.”

Israel Adesanya also issued a warning to his upcoming opponent and said that he's willing to throw down with Costa anywhere, anytime.

“He’s not going to have enough energy to do sh*t,” Adesanya said. “He’ll be sucked out, dry to the bone. He’ll probably be pretty quiet, I’m assuming. Or he’ll say something and then shut up. But if we run into each other, I don’t care if he wants to throw down, we can throw down. I have my whole crew with me. I’ll have the gang gang with me.