"I might allow it" - Israel Adesanya on Darren Till earning a title shot after potential victory over Paulo Costa

Over the course of his title reign, Israel Adesanya has had no shortage of challengers in the middleweight division. His five successful title defenses are testament to that, but the middleweight division is still full of capable fighters who could look to unseat him down the line, including Darren Till.

In the latest video uploaded to his YouTube channel, 'The Last Stylebender' partnered up with City Kickboxing teammate Dan Hooker. The two discussed potentially interesting matchups across all divisions in the UFC. Hooker's suggestion at middleweight pitted Darren Till against Paulo Costa.

'The Hangman' said:

"I want to see Till fight Paulo Costa. I think he beats him. And then he can finally get a title shot. [laughs]"

The middleweight champion responded:

"I might allow it. I might allow it, any excuse to go to row two."

Watch the entire video on Adesanya's YouTube channel:

Till is currently ranked No.9 in the middleweight division and is a long way off of a title shot with the form he's been in and his injuries. Till has lost four of his last five fights and withdrew from the recent UFC London card due to a knee issue.

Paulo Costa, on the other hand, is set to fight Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 after a tough couple of losses against 'The Last Stylebender' and Marvin Vettori.

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Israel Adesanya looks to clear out the middleweight division

One reason to the fight between Israel Adesanya and Darren Till could come about fast is due to the lack of remaining fresh fights for the champion. 'Izzy' has been extremely dominant at middleweight throughout his time in the UFC, with his only professional loss coming at light heavyweight.

Adesanya has fought and defeated five of the top six contenders in the middleweight division, some of them even twice, like Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker. He is set to face the sixth remaining fighter next, someone he knows from earlier on in his career.

Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira are set to reignite their rivalry from their Glory Kickboxing days, when the two fighters met twice. Adesanya lost both fights to 'Poatan' and now has a chance to redeem himself on his own turf, the octagon.

The two are set to meet for a third time across different combat sports at UFC 281 on November 12.

Adesanya sounded off a warning to Pereira after his last title defense against Jared Cannonier:

"'Poatan', trust me, the first time I told you it was an error on my part, spamming right hands and that was in kickboxing. It's easy to knock out the homeboy, what's the hillbilly's name [Sean Strickland]? But like I said at the press conference, next time I put you on skates, you're gonna get frozen like Elsa. I'll leave it at that."

Watch the champion's post-fight interview with Joe Rogan: