Dana White: Israel Adesanya won’t face injured Paulo Costa, too soon for Jon Jones super fight

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, has some less-than-exciting news for the mixed martial arts (MMA) fan base, as the surgically-repaired Paulo Costa is out of action for eight months and Jon Jones is too high up on the ladder.

That means reigning middleweight kingpin, Israel Adesanya, will have to wait and see what else matchmakers can come up with for his first title defense. A quick look at the rankings suggests a Kelvin Gastelum rematch if “The Gorilla” is put down at UFC 244.

“Costa had surgery on his bicep so he’s out for eight months, but we are working on something else with Israel right now,” White told The Schmo. “He just won the title, to do a Jones super fight right now doesn’t make sense, there are guys in his own weight division that he can fight.”

Adesanya won the 185-pound title by wrecking Robert Whittaker in the UFC 243 pay-per-view (PPV) main event earlier this month in Australia (highlights), which improved his undefeated record to 18-0 with 14 wins coming by way of knockout or technical knockout.

There has been plenty of back-and-forth banter between Adesanya and Jones but there is also talk of “Bones” moving up to heavyweight to fight Stipe Miocic, or perhaps Francis Ngannou, depending on how things shake out here.