Israel Adesanya praises former rival Paulo Costa after UFC 318 victory

Israel Adesanya has some rare praise for former rival Paulo Costa following the latter’s win over Roman Kopylov at UFC 318.

On Saturday night at UFC 318, Paulo Costa was able to get himself back in the win column. He did so against Roman Kopylov and while it was a competitive fight in certain areas, the Brazilian star was able to prove that he’s still more than capable of mixing it up with those residing in the top 15 of the middleweight division.

RELATED: Israel Adesanya reveals he DM’d Paulo Costa after their fight with some friendly advice

One man who knows what it’s like to get in there with Costa is none other than Israel Adesanya. During the pandemic era, Paulo earned a shot at ‘Stylebender’ and many felt as if his power would help him overwhelm the champion. Alas, that didn’t prove to be the case, and Adesanya managed to dust him off with a TKO finish.

When reacting to UFC 318, Adesanya had some positive words for Costa and how he was able to perform.

Adesanya praises Costa

“Costa is looking good, man,” the former two-time 185lb champion said during the co-main event.

“Costa is looking f—ing clean!

“Bro, he’s selecting them nice. That uppercut, right to the body as well.”

He added when the fight ended: “Costa is on today, he’s back.

“Good job, buddy. Finally!

“That was vintage. He looked good.”

Quotes via Bloody Elbow

It’s nice to see that these two have, seemingly, buried the hatchet on some level. Moving forward, Paulo now needs to focus his attention on building some consistency.

What do you believe should be next for Paulo Costa? Is there a chance that we could see him face off with Israel Adesanya in a rematch, or is that unlikely? Let us know, BJPENN Nation!