Israel Adesanya: Francis Ngannou made Paulo Costa “s**t his pants” in UFC 248 confrontation

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya claims Francis Ngannou gave Paulo Costa a serious scare in the crowd at UFC 248.

Adesanya fought in the main event of UFC 248, successfully defending his title against Yoel Romero with a decision win. Costa, who is the next man in line for a middleweight title shot, was allegedly heckling the champ from cage-side—until Ngannou intervened.

Adesanya shared this story, which he says was relayed to him by UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker, in an interview with Submission Radio.

“At my last fight – nobody wants to fuck with Francis – Paulo was acting up,” Adesanya said (h/t MMA Mania). “You know how he got kicked out? He was acting up, misbehaving, acting a fool. And at one point – Dan told me this, Dan Hooker told me this – it’s like, Paulo sacked it to Francis cause Francis told him to shut the fuck up, that his last fight wasn’t that great anyways, and he just shut up and didn’t even make eye contact.

“He was like, ‘hey, Paulo, shut up, your last fight wasn’t even that good anyway,’ and he just like… he just ignored him like he didn’t hear it,” Adesanya continued. “Everyone in the f**kin’ front row heard it and everyone saw him shit his pants. So, no one wants to fuck with Francis.”

Israel Adesanya and Francis Ngannou, who hail from Nigeria and Cameroon respectively, have formed a friendship during their time in the UFC, and are both eager for the promotion to host an event somewhere on the African continent.

Adesanya is expected to defend his title against Costa sometime later this year. Ngannou, meanwhile, is awaiting a shot at the UFC heavyweight title currently guarded by Stipe Miocic.

What do you think of this story from the middleweight champ?