Israel Adesanya had a close eye on former foes Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa’s fight at UFC 302.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) defeated Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) by split decision in this past Saturday’s five-round co-main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. – an outcome Adesanya accurately predicted.
Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC), who’s the only fighter to ever finish Costa, pointed out a deficiency in the Brazilian’s game which allowed Strickland to find eventual success in the fight.
“Costa sucks off the back foot. He’s not really good off the back foot,” Adesanya reacted on his YouTube channel. “He’s doing better in this fight. Costa could set him up so bad here, man, because (Strickland is) so worried about that leg.”
In his most recent fight, Adesanya lost the middleweight title to Strickland at UFC 293. Strickland pointed the finger at Costa for their disappointing fight which drew boos from the crowd, but Adesanya says Strickland is tougher to deal with than people think.
“It’s easier said than done (to stand your ground vs. Strickland), I’ll tell you that,” Adesanya said. “But if you’ve worked on it, you know how to do it.”
Strickland wound up losing his middleweight title to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297, before rebounding against Costa. Adesanya is expected to be Du Plessis’ next title challenger.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.
