“Like some dark web s***” – Israel Adesanya unfazed about facing Paulo Costa in empty arena

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Saiyed Adeem Karim

Paulo Costa is expected to face Israel Adesanya for the Middleweight UFC title

Undefeated UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya isn’t afraid of facing Paulo Costa in an empty arena.

The Stylebender was on Submission Radio and spoke on a range on topics. The champion spoke about his love for anime and how he had been working out during the coronavirus pandemic.

Israel Adesanya UFC 248 crowd boo Yoel Romero vs
Israel Adesanya kept hold of his UFC Middleweight title against Yoel Romero (Credit: UFC)

Many UFC events were cancelled over the past months but three events have been held in close succession.

However, the events were held without any fans in attendance. Adesanya was asked about how fighting in am empty arena would feel for him, but the Stylebender claimed he would love it:

“I like it.

“You’re going to hear a lot of sh** talking, a lot of broken English from his part as well.

“What I really want is that intimacy, there’s no distractions, no crowd like sometimes, people do play to the crowd, and I love the crowd. But at the same time, I like this.

Paulo Costa is one of the top stars in the UFC Middleweight division
Paulo Costa
looks on during his middleweight bout against Johny Hendricks (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

“It takes me back to the rawness, the rawness of it, it’s me and this **** boy fighting in front of these billionaires and the whole world can watch online.

“It’s like some dark web shit.”

Island for Izzy

Adesanya added that you could hear the impact of the punches too, and he was looking forward to facing Costa at the Apex or an empty arena.

However, the middleweight champion also went on to say that he wanted to fight on the so-called UFC island just to see how it is.

Yoel Romero vs Israel Adesanya UFC 248
Yoel Romero and Israel Adesanya didn’t set the UFC world alight with their fight (Credit: UFC)

Adesanya came out on top in a controversial match against Yoel Romero last. Romero didn’t do much attacking early on and Izzy was more than happy to defend his title.

The match did liven up in the end, but Adesanya retained the crown. Costa was in the crowd for that clash, and it will be interesting to see what happens when the pair meet.

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