Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, recently told the mixed martial arts (MMA) media that reigning middleweight titleholder, Israel Adesanya, would not be fighting Paulo Costa because “The Eraser” is sidelined with injuries.
So with Jon Jones too busy doing ... whatever it is he’s doing, the promotion will instead try to find a new candidate for “The Last Stylebender,” prompting longtime title contender, Yoel Romero, to throw his name (and a few F-bombs) into the proverbial hat.
“Hey Israel, why you say ‘I see you, boy’? Why you say, ‘I see you soon, boy’? No, no, no. You don’t need to say something like this,” Romero said on Instagram. “Give me the fucking date. Give me the fucking date. Tell Dana White the fucking date. Alright? That’s it.”
Adesanya appears to be on board.
You guys just finding out shit we been knowing for weeks and plotting on for months! #staywoke #iseeyousoonboi @YoelRomeroMMA pic.twitter.com/UQizrmv9sa
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) October 30, 2019
Despite his good standing with the combat sports fan base, the 43 year-old Romero is coming off back-to-back defeats and dropped three of his last four. Sure, they were close decisions, but they are still losses and sympathy matchmaking is never a good look.
“Look who wants to return from the dead’s world,” Costa wrote on social media. “Oh my goodness, is this man still alive? After that beating? Unbelievable! Look man, that funny skinny clown will be killed by my hands. It [is] my promise. I’ll do this very soon so stay cool and go back to your forced retirement. That’s so funny.”
Costa outlasted Romero at UFC 243 back in August.
“Paulo will be ready to fight in April 2020 and this is the kind of fight all MMA fans want to watch,” manager Wallid Ismail told MMA Fighting. “They truly hate each other (and) they are both undefeated. Paulo is certain Adesanya is going to lose any time soon, but he really wants to be the first to beat him up.”
Nothing is official at this time and I would imagine White and Co. will wait for the UFC 244 pay-per-view (PPV) event to see what Kelvin Gastelum can do against Darren Till. We also have Jared Cannonier waiting in the 185-pound wings.
See you soon?
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