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Israel Adesanya has retained his middleweight title with a totally one-sided beating from Paulo Costa at UFC 253 on Fight Island.
Adesanya dominated the fight from start to finish, ending the procedure with one minute to fight in the second round after systematically knocking down the Brazilian.
It is Adesanya’s second defense of the middleweight title after a decision win over Yoel Romero in March.
The Nigerian kiwi was criticized for the win over Romero, but left no doubt about his talent and ability to dispatch Costa after a heated and sometimes ugly build-up.
MORE: Jake Matthews defeats Diego Sánchez | Jan Blachowicz defeats Dominick Reyes
“Because of what happened last time, everyone said ‘it’s so boring’, but I had to make everyone remember why we are the best,” he said after the victory.
“I’ve been telling you.”
Adesanya used his post-fight speech to line up a fight with Jared Cannonier if the American beats Robert Whittaker next month. Whittaker and Cannonier will fight in the co-main event venue at UFC 254 before Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje unify the lightweight title.
Adesanya attacked Costa’s forward left leg from the first 10 seconds, seeking to compromise the Brazilian’s movement. It worked.
Costa responded in kind, landing a couple of kicks to Adesanya’s abdomen.
It was a high-stakes, high-level kickboxing match for three minutes, with Adesanya testing Costa’s nerves and patience with a series of feints while concentrating on his left leg.
Red welts and bruises were visible on Costa’s leg early in the second round, when Adesanya began to find other targets, including a nice high kick that opened a cut on Costa’s head.
Virutally immobilized from the leg kicks, Costa was in serious trouble when Adesanya smelled blood in the water.
A beautiful right hand dropped Costa to the mat before the ground and Pound saw the fight stop.
In the co-main event, Jan Blachowicz scored an incredible second-round knockout victory over Dominick Reyes to claim the light heavyweight title.
It’s the first time in a decade that someone other than Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier has taken the belt and it’s been a huge betting surprise.
The result capped a mix of results for Auckland’s City Kickboxing Gym.
In addition to Adesanya, Brad Riddell emerged victorious thanks to a unanimous decision victory over Alex Da Silva in the featured preliminary.
Meanwhile, Shane Young dropped a first-round knockout against Ludovit Klein and Kai Kara-France was subdued in the second round by Brandon Royval.
Melbourne’s Jake Matthews scored the biggest victory of his career in the UFC with a one-sided win over Diego Sanchez, taking his winning streak to three welterweight fights.
