Israel Adesanya responds to criticisms from Chris Weidman and Paulo ‘juice monkey’ Costa

Bloodyelbow.com

Israel Adesanya is the talk of the middleweight division right now, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get away with taking shots at him. Adesanya, who is coming off a big win over Anderson Silva at UFC 234 that seemingly earned him a title shot, was a guest on The MMA Hour with Luke Thomas today. And he was quick to respond to criticisms from two fellow 185-pounders – former champion Chris Weidman, and fellow undefeated fighter Paulo Costa.

The 6th Round Post-Fight Show – UFC 234: Adesanya vs Silva by Bloody Elbow Presents

First up was Weidman, who said yesterday that Adesanya was “a tad bit overrated”. Here’s The Last Stylebender’s response (transcribed by MMA Fighting):

“I didn’t pay any mind to Chris Weidman [saying] I’m overrated,” Adesanya said. “OK, why, because he beat Silva a little bit more handily than I did. You know. I’m overrated. Interesting. I could say the same thing about him. Heavily. Yeah, When I get this belt in my next fight, they can all line up and they can find out how overrated I am. And Chris Weidman, that’s his opinion, that’s his opinion, and I don’t have to pay any attention to it. But yeah, overrated, that’s interesting. Hmmm.”

He wasn’t quite as diplomatic with Costa. Here’s what Costa had to say on Twitter:

This scrawny clown @styleblender would not survive for 2 rounds with me. He does not convince me definitely! My focus is total on Romero in April.— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) February 10, 2019

And here is Israel’s heated response:

“Now, what’s his name, little juice monkey, Paula,” Adesanya said. “Paula. My b-tch. What did he say again? He said something about I wouldn’t last two rounds with him. See he, Silva, that fight with me and him was just physical chess. Was the highest level of striking. It was just, if you know about footwork, intricacies of footwork, it was beautiful to watch. For a guy like Paula, he’s a walking punching bag, walking punching bag, juiced up, blown up and throws body shots and heavy, heavy, heavy. Bring that ass over here.”

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“Uriah Hall was just jabbing him up,” Adesanya said. “How the f—k are you going to hit me with those little T-Rex arms. If I’m behind those jabs, the things that I follow up will be much, much different, so, yeah. A guy like that he should just focus on his fight he’s got next Yoel Romero and yeah, let them talk.”

As mentioned, Costa will have to deal with Yoel Romero next in April. Weidman isn’t currently booked, but is coming off a knockout loss to Ronaldo Souza. Adesanya could be fighting for the title next, but things are very up in the air after Robert Whittaker’s late removal from his title defense against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234.