The return of Brazilian star Paulo Costa was once again postponed. According to AG Fight, this time Costa could not come to the US to lead the UFC Fight Night event on April 17 because he “had a very serious flu”. It is rumored that Paulo Costa may be involved in Covid-19, but no official information has confirmed this issue.
The last time Paulo Costa Thuong Dai was in September 2020, he confronted the Israeli champion Adesanya, who had just lost to Jan Blachowicz not long ago. However, contrary to the expectations of the support audience, Costa had an unforgettable match ending because he was knocked down in the second half.
The draw of Pualo Costa from the match made Robert Whittaker, Costa's opponent, forced to find a new match. Whittaker is aiming to challenge Israel Adesanya again, but it seems that with only two recent consecutive victories, the former king is still not enough to catch the eye of the Adesanya team.
“We don't think Robert Whittaker is at the top position in the list of opponents,” Israel Adesanya coach Eugene Bareman said.
“No bad talk about Robert, but indeed he does not make Israel feel anything dangerous. Robert could not even hit Israel! So we will prioritize other opponents for the battle to protect the belt next time, but a match against Robert sounds nothing good.”