Tag: Israel Adesanya

MMA Junkie Radio #3003: On Shevchenko vs. Chookagian, Adesanya-Costa feud, more

Hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” break down the latest MMA news and notes, from fights booked to feuds ramping up.

Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here!

On episode 3,002 of the podcast, the guys break down the latest MMA news and notes.

The rundown

  • UFC women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] has her next title defense lined up, and it’ll happen against [autotag]Katlyn Chookagian[/autotag] on Feb. 8 in Houston. We offer our thoughts on the matchup and ponder Shevchenko’s status as one of the all-time great female fighters.
  • Did you see that [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] is set to fight … [autotag]Ilir Latifi[/autotag]? Latifi recently announced his move up to heavyweight from light heavyweight, and that’s one hell of an introduction to the division.
  • Question: Would [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] have a better shot in a rematch with UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] than Alexander Gustafsson did his second time around? We discuss.
  • Good news: [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] is on schedule with his recovery to return soon. Bad news: We still have no idea which UFC title he’ll defend first – flyweight or bantamweight. Whose decision is it, and what will ultimately be decided?
  • [autotag]Paulo Costa[/autotag] ranted about UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] this week and called him a “p***y African.” That … might be racist?
  • A potential fight between [autotag]Jason Knight[/autotag] and [autotag]Paulie Malignaggi[/autotag] in either boxing or bare knuckle: Is that something we want to see?
  • [autotag]Josh Thomson[/autotag] wants to run it back with [autotag]Gilbert Melendez[/autotag] for a fourth time, and lobbies for Bellator to make it happen. Are we into it?

Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at AudioBoom, or check it out above. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.

Paulo Costa calls UFC champ Israel Adesanya a ‘p—y African,’ alleges media bias in Twitter rant

Paulo Costa had some choice words for UFC champion Israel Adesanya in an online rant posted Tuesday.

[autotag]Paulo Costa[/autotag] is charging full force at UFC champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag].

On Tuesday, middleweight contender Costa (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) took to Twitter to bash Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC). The Brazilian fighter, who currently is sidelined with a shoulder injury, questioned Adesanya’s willingness to fight him.

“Borrachinha” even went as far as to call Adesanya “afraid,” “skinny and fragile,” and a “(expletive) African.” Check out Costa’s tweet, which has since been deleted, below:

In a follow-up tweet, Costa clarified that he holds nothing against the entire continent of Africa, just Adesanya. That tweet also has since been deleted.

When responding to a commenter, Costa said he wanted to “kill” Adesanya.

Before he stepped to Adesanya, however, Costa called out the media, which he indicated is biased against him. The tweets (which have since been deleted) translated as follows (via Twitter translate):

“Funny to see this 3D issue now,” Costa wrote, in Portuguese. “When I fought with Romero my D’s didn’t tell anyone. They didn’t take into account that I dominated and caused more impact (damage) for most of the 2 rounds. Brazilian and hard!

“I despise commentators and newsboys drooling gringos egg. I will be champion just for me and my fans, don’t feel champions with my belt just for being Brazilian.”

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After Adesanya knocked out then-champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October, Costa appeared to be next in line. But he required surgery on his shoulder and Adesanya’s focus turned to Yoel Romero.

Despite Costa’s claims he’ll be healthy and ready to go in early 2020, UFC president Dana White said the fighter’s physicians are telling him otherwise.

“Well, Costa tore his bicep, so he had to have surgery,” White said in an interview in early November. ” He’s claiming he’ll be back sooner than he will be. That’s not what the doctor is telling me. So that’s not true.”

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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