Video | Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa meet on Fight Island

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and rival Paulo Costa met each other on Fight Island before their fight next weekend at UFC 253.

Adesanya and Costa finally meet in the main event of UFC 253 on Fight Island. It’s one of the biggest fights of the year on paper and UFC president Dana White has even said it’s his personal choice for 2020 “Fight of the Year.” Adesanya and Costa do not like each other and this should be the ultimate grudge match between the two men.

Ahead of their fight, Adesanya and Costa both arrived at Abu Dhabi early to get acclimated. They actually ran into each other on Fight Island and Costa’s manager Wallid Ismail shared a video of the surprisingly respectful encounter on Instagram.

@borrachinhamma X @stylebender @ufc @abudhabi September 26 LIVE ON PPV Warriors only fight in the cage, they may have a personal problem, but they will solve everything in the octagon

As Ismail said, the beef between Adesanya and Costa is as real as it gets, but at the end of the day, they have a job to do. The two rivals could have easily got into a shouting match or a pushing match, but what’s the point? In just six days they will have the opportunity to punch each other in the face inside the Octagon.

According to the current betting odds, Adesanya is around a -170 betting favorite (bet $170 to win $100) while Costa is a +150 betting underdog (bet $100 to win $150). It is rare to see two undefeated fighters square off for a title, but in this case, that’s what will happen and someone’s “0 will have to go.” This should be a fantastic fight between two top MMA fighters in their prime and UFC 253 is primed for a big night.

How excited are you for Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa?