Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya had a vested interest as Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa shared the cage in this past weekend's co-main event.
While Saturday's UFC 302 pay-per-view event in Newark, New Jersey, closed out in style with a blockbuster championship headliner, it wasn't short on disappointments. According to most, that included the five-round affair between Strickland and Costa.
The ex-champ and one-time title challenger promised a bloodbath on fight night during their fight week media appearances. When the cage door closed behind them, though, "Tarzan" was able to methodically outpoint "Borrachinha" across 25 minutes.
Leading into the event, the matchup was widely pointed to as among the most intriguing on the UFC 302 lineup. With that in mind, plenty of eyes were on the co-headliner, including those of Adesanya.
Adesanya Reacts To Strickland's UFC 302 Win: 'Costa Sucks Off His Back Foot'
During a video recently uploaded to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Adesanya can be seen reacting to the major moments from the UFC 302 main card on Saturday night.
Having defeated Costa back in 2020 and lost the middleweight title to Strickland just last September, the Nigerian-New Zealander paid close attention to the co-main event at Prudential Center.
Costa sucks off the back foot. He's not really good off the back foot," Adesanya said. "He's doing better in this fight. Costa could set him up here, man, 'cause (Strickland's) so worried about that leg. He's marching! (laughs)... It's easier said than done (to stand your ground against Strickland), I'll tell you that. But if you've worked on it, you know how to do it.
Adesanya will likely now have the possibility of a second dance with Strickland at the back of his mind. First things first, though, he'll need to dethrone Dricus Du Plessis to achieve three-time champ status.
Although yet to be announced, "The Last Stylebender" is expected to serve as the first challenge in the South African's reign at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, this August.
Regardless of the result, it would appear that Strickland is in line for a championship rematch against the winner of that grudge match.