Paulo Costa lost to Israel Adesanya in his previous outing but could face Robert Whittaker next
MMA legend Wallid Ismail was speaking to The Schmo after the weigh-ins for UFC 255. The Brazilian opened up on the future plans of Paulo Costa and claimed a big fight could be on the cards.
Costa was undefeated coming into his battle against UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya. However, Borrachinha was defeated easily by Adesanya.
Adesanya now plans to fight Jan Blachowicz for the UFC Light Heavyweight title and Ismail wanted to see an interim title clash between two big names.
The Schmo asked who is next for Costa and the name that Ismail brought out was Robert Whittaker. The Australian is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and last defeated Jarred Cannonier:
“We work very hard with Dana White and Mick [Maynard] to fight against [Robert] Whittaker, this is the fight to make.
“Dana White said ‘Yes’. He loved this fight but Whittaker just want to fight for the belt. I even called Whittaker and said ‘Hey, tell them you want to fight for the interim belt’.
“I tried to contact the guys and push the fight to happen. I think Israel going to fight Jan, this is what the guys announced.
“If he [Israel] goes to 205, why not do the interim belt for 185?”
Unsure of Whittaker’s future
Ismail added that Whittaker had only spoken about wanting to fight for the title and there was nothing about facing Costa.
However, the legend didn’t want to bring up another opponent for Costa until the future of Whittaker was cleared up.
Whittaker doesn’t fight during the Christmas season and should be back in action in 2021. Ismail was keen on an interim belt as soon as possible and claimed that the #1 and #2 ranked stars in the division should meet up.
It will be interesting to see what the plans from White’s end are. The UFC boss loves hyping up fights and Costa vs Whittaker should be a great one.
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