Israel Adesanya says Paulo Costa had a fight with Navajo Stirling on the table and said no. Speaking on the Precision Podcast, the former middleweight champion claimed the Brazilian was supposed to face his undefeated City Kickboxing teammate before the bout fell apart. He also offered his own theory about why.
“What I heard was he was meant to fight Navajo (Stirling) but now that’s gone, but that would’ve been a good fight against Navajo,” Adesanya said. “He probably said no because of flashbacks, he didn’t want to see (my) stance across the cage.”
That second line is aimed at 2020, when Adesanya picked Costa apart and knocked him out in the second round. Bloody Elbow, which reported Adesanya’s comments, notes that the loss started a rough run for Costa at 185, where he dropped three of his next five fights.
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Adesanya didn’t stop there. He suggested Costa is looking for an exit from the promotion. “He probably knows he’s hit his ceiling in the UFC so he’s trying to go somewhere else and fight lesser competition for more money,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think Costa will reach the top at light heavyweight.
Where Costa stands
The 35-year-old hasn’t competed since April, when he finally moved up to 205 and knocked out Azamat Murzakanov in the third round at UFC 327. That win came with momentum. The months since have mostly come with friction.
Costa has one fight left on his UFC deal and has been pushing the promotion to book it so he can test free agency. Negotiations have stalled, and he’s grown more and more frustrated that nothing is signed. Costa himself has said he received three fight offers, and none of them came together. Dana White has said Costa turned down several of the UFC’s offers. Costa had hoped for an interim title shot, but the UFC decided against creating an interim belt at light heavyweight.
The frustration spilled onto X recently. In a tweet he has since deleted, Costa took a shot at White, claiming the UFC boss is too preoccupied with his feud with Eddie Hearn to care about the promotion.
Stirling, meanwhile, has moved on. He’s now set to headline UFC Doha on November 21 against former champion Jiri Prochazka in what’s shaping up as a likely No. 1 contender fight.
As for Costa, Bloody Elbow points out that former champion Magomed Ankalaev is the only fighter ranked above him who doesn’t have a fight booked. Ankalaev wants to get back into title contention, which would make that the logical matchup if Costa is willing to sign a new deal. If he’s set on leaving after one more fight, the more likely scenario is the UFC feeding him a rising contender who could use the rub.
My take: Adesanya’s “flashbacks” line is pure trolling, and he knows it. The calendar backs him up anyway. Costa had a contender-level fight in front of him, and now Stirling gets Prochazka in a main event while Costa gets a deleted tweet and a contract clock. Turning down fights is a legitimate way to negotiate. The cost is that every week he sits, the guys he passed on get bigger, and Doha on November 21 could hand Stirling the kind of win that Costa says he’s been asking the UFC for all year.
