Paulo Costa tells Israel Adesanya he shouldn’t have given him the middle finger: ‘See you soon’

UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa was not happy that new UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya flipped him the bird following his knockout win over Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 243.

“The Last Stylebender” scaled the Octagon, looked right at Costa in the audience, and stuck his middle fingers up at him. Costa was not amused by Adesanya’s actions.

On his social media after the fight, Costa told Adesanya he made a mistake flipping the bird at him.

You should not have done this! See you soon. pic.twitter.com/jxU9U71PoO

— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) October 6, 2019

“You should not have done this! See you soon.”

Costa and Adesanya have been jawing at each other all of fight feet. Although Adesanya obviously had his hands full with the champ Whittaker, he didn’t waste the opportunity to talk smack to Costa, who was in attendance for the event as a guest of UFC president Dana White. Costa sat in the front row in shiny gold clothing, taking in the action.

When UFC announcer Jon Anik asked Costa who he wanted to fight next, Adesanya didn’t hesitate and said he wants to fight Costa next. Both men are undefeated, with Adesanya holding an 18-0 record and Costa holding a 13-0 record. Both men are amongst the top-five ranked middleweights in the sport, and a fight against one another would be a massive fight for the UFC in 2020.

Although many figured Adesanya would call out UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones since he’s a bigger name, Adesanya seems to want to stay at middleweight and defend his belt there and Costa is the guy who is next in line. Costa defeated Yoel Romero at UFC 241 this summer to become the No. 1 contender in the UFC middleweight division.

With all the smack talk leading up to their eventual meeting, expect Adesanya vs. Costa to be one of the most highly-anticipated fights of 2020 for MMA fans.

Do you think Paulo Costa has a chance to beat Israel Adesanya?