Luke Rockhold claims Paulo Costa could "easily" defeat Israel Adesanya at UFC 253

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has claimed that top middleweight contender Paulo Costa will dethrone the division’s reigning champion, Israel Adesanya when they face each other in the main event of UFC 253 on September 19.

Luke Rockhold was once the best fighter in the middleweight division and has fought the very best middleweights in the world, and from that experience, he believes that Costa has the edge over Adesanya in the fight.

Luke Rockhold revealed his thoughts on how the matchup between Costa and Adesanya will go during a recent appearance on Submission Radio.

“I think he (Costa) could easily do that. You have the bull and you have the matador, and Israel needs to use his length to get the f**k away. That dude, Paulo Costa, he just comes forward, comes forward with everything he’s got. But Adesanya, he moves real well, he evades well and he tags well. So, you never know. Everybody can be hurt.”

Paulo Costa, like his opponent Adesanya, iscurrently unbeaten at 13-0 but hasn't fought since August 2019 when he picked up an impressive decision win against former title challenger Yoel Romero. Costa had to spend a lot of time in the sidelines following the fight due to a bicep injury. Now that Costa has recovered, he has been granted the longtime overdue title fight against Adesanya as the entire world now awaits with bated breath for the showdown.is awaiting their collision.

According to Costa's coach Eric Albarracin, the fight will be the best title fight in MMA history.

“Paulo Costa vs Adesanya will be the greatest middleweight title fight in history,” the Costa coach told BJPENN.com. “These two hate each other, they are at each other’s throats. When we went to UFC 243, Adesanya called him Ricky Martin, and he does look like Ricky Martin but he hits like Mike Tyson. Adesanya will not step out of the cage there, Costa will erase him.”