Paulo Costa explains why he got drunk the night before Israel Adesanya fight at UFC 253

Paulo Costa explains why he got drunk the night before his UFC middleweight title fight against champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 253.

Costa was knocked out by Adesanya at UFC 253 in what was an uncompetitive fight from the Brazilian. Although Costa was unbeaten heading into the Adesanya fight and looking every bit the part of a legitimate title contender, he had a lackluster outing against “Stylebender” and was put to sleep for his efforts. After the fight, Costa admitted that he was drunk on wine the night before and that it played a role in his poor performance that night. Speaking to ESPN in a recent interview, Costa elaborated on what happened to him.

“My weight cut was very hard, but it’s always hard. The problem is that in Abu Dhabi, the fight happens in the morning, not at night. So, you get one night more [of recovery]. And what happened is, after my weight cut, I had recovered very well. But then I trained so hard. I was so confident, that I trained hard. I trained more than is recommended after a weight cut. And I think this made a lot of problems in my body. I had a lot of cramps and I had a lot of problems trying to sleep,” Costa said.

“I had decided to fight. I would not let this fight fall out. After the physical therapist stepped out of my room, I went to my bed but couldn’t fall asleep. I tried melatonin, but it didn’t work. Sometimes I will use one cup of wine when I feel a lot of stress, it’s helped me a little bit, but just one cup, when I have time to put it out of my body. But it was too late. I was desperate to fall asleep.”

Costa returns to the Octagon on October 23 when he faces off against Marvin Vettori.

Do you think Paulo Costa will defeat Marvin Vettori in his return to the Octagon and get back on the path to a title shot at 185lbs?