Paulo Costa thinks the UFC may be best served booking a title eliminator between Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier.
Costa is expected to challenge UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 on Sept. 12. UFC president Dana White insists the title bout isn’t official yet despite a report from Combate. While the UFC boss initially said the event could be held on Yas Island, it’s likely to take place inside the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Paulo Costa Wants To See Whittaker vs. Cannonier Title Eliminator
During an interview with MMAJunkie, Costa said he feels Whittaker vs. Cannonier in a title eliminator is the way to go.
“We have maybe three guys in line waiting for the winner of my fight,” Costa told MMA Junkie. “I don’t know what Dana White will do to solve that problem, but maybe a title eliminator can be good. We have Rob, Jared – I believe Rob and Jared need to fight to see.”
Costa has had bad blood brewing with Adesanya for a while now. “Borrachinha” believes Adesanya is cocky and needs to be humbled. As for Adesanya, he called Costa an “overly inflated balloon animal,” insinuating that “Borrachinha” is on PEDs.
Whittaker says he’s prepared to be on standby if he’s needed for UFC 253. “The Reaper” realizes that he probably won’t get the next title shot due to his TKO loss to Adesanya back in Oct. 2019. With that said, Whittaker feels like a motivated fighter compared to his defeat to “The Last Stylebender.”
