Israel Adesanya has again defended his UFC middleweight title after he defeated the unbeaten Paulo Costa in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night, September 26.
The Nigerian-born New Zealand professional mixed martial artist fighter battered Costa’s front leg with multiple kicks to quiet the Brazilian fighter’s trash-talking in the first round of the main event on Fight Island.
In the second round, Adesanya opened up Costa’s face with a high kick and then finished the challenger with punches.
Costa, 29, stumbled backward and could not recover as he was left bloodied and bruised on the canvas.
The victory over Costa makes it the 20th in Adesanya’s career.