Paulo Costa won’t be squashing beef with Israel Adesanya after fight

If you think Paulo Costa and Israel Adesanya will squash their beef after their UFC 253 middleweight title fight, you can think again.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Costa vowed not to shake his opponent’s fight with the action has subsided.

“Even after I knock him out, I will not shake his hand,” Costa said. “It will be wild. It will be savage. … I believe in the second round (I will knock him out) because he will run a lot in the first round.”

Costa went on to shed some light on his strategy for his fight with Adesanya, who is one of the craftiest and most lethal strikers in MMA.

“I will not be staying and waiting for him,” Costa said. “I know he can run a lot, and that’s what he wants to do, what he usually does. I won’t wait like Romero did. I will hunt him inside the cage and close the distance and land my shots to his body and his face. … Don’t go so fast like Whittaker and don’t go slow like Romero. Make a balance. I think I am very different from both guys because I can pressure him every minute for the 25 minutes.

“I can keep the pressure very, very aggressive against him. I can push him at all times, and I have a lot of power in my hands, on my bones in my hands and kicks. Against him, I just need one shot to finish the fight.”

Costa also sent a parting message to his imminent foe.

“To Israel Adesanya I would just like to say: Don’t give up in this fight,” Costa said. “Let’s fight. It’s your time to fight me, to face me, and let’s see how many hits on your skinny body, skinny face you can get.”

UFC 253 goes down on September 19. Paulo Costa will be challenging Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title in the card’s main event.