Israel Adesanya reacts after Paulo Costa suggests he was hungover in their fight at UFC 253

UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya has issued a reaction to Paulo Costa’s claim he was hungover for the UFC 253 showdown.

Adesanya put on a real show when he defended his UFC Middleweight Championship against Costa, dominating and finishing the Brazilian star to successfully retain his title. Now, this Saturday at UFC 259, he’ll attempt to become a two-weight world champion when he challenges Jan Blachowicz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

But during a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Adesanya was also asked about Costa’s revelation that he had been drinking wine the night before the biggest fight of his career.

“That’s just funny,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie. “There’s certain things I’ve done before some of my fights in the past where I learnt my mistakes, but I went in and got my job done. Some people aren’t cut out for that lifestyle.

“I’ll tell you one thing: The best thing to do in his position is accept the fact he lost,” Adesanya said. “He got his ass whooped. The fact that he keeps trying to make all these excuses, it’s only going to do him worse in the long run. He’s making excuses because his ego can’t handle the fact that ‘The Skinny Clown’ whooped his ass badly then double-tapped him twice.

“Just swallow your ego,” Adesanya added. “You got your ass whooped. Get back to the drawing board and reassess your whole game. You can’t just rest on that because if you do – this is my advice – you’ll never get far in life, or in this game.”

Adesanya is referencing the following comments made by Costa.

“I was kind of drunk (when) I fought, maybe, on a hangover,” Costa said (via MMAFighting.com). “I couldn’t sleep because of the cramps. Keep in mind that the fight happens at 9 a.m., we have to wake up at 5 to get ready, stretch, wrap the hands. The UFC told us to wake up at 5 in the morning to go to the arena to fight. I hadn’t slept until 2:30.

“It was my mistake and I don’t blame anyone else, it was something I chose, but, in order to try to sleep, because I had to sleep since I was awake for 24 hours, I had wine, too much wine, a bottle to try to blackout. I had a glass and didn’t work. Two glasses, it didn’t work. Half bottle didn’t work. I had it all.”

What do you think of this back-and-forth between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa?