GDT: UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa

[Avs_19]

Date: September 26, 2020
Venue: Flash Forum
City: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Time: 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Middleweight Championship bout: Israel Adesanya (c) vs. Paulo Costa
Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Dominick Reyes vs. Jan Błachowicz
Flyweight bout: Kai Kara-France vs. Brandon Royval
Women's Bantamweight bout: Ketlen Vieira vs. Sijara Eubanks
Featherweight bout: Hakeem Dawodu vs. Zubaira Tukhugov

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN 2, TSN 5)

Lightweight bout: Brad Riddell vs. Alex Da Silva
Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Matthews
Featherweight bout: Shane Young vs. Ľudovít Klein
Light Heavyweight bout: William Knight vs. Aleksa Camur

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN 2, UFC Fight Pass)

Heavyweight bout: Juan Espino vs. Jeff Hughes
Light Heavyweight bout: Khadis Ibragimov vs. Danilo Marques​

Click to read more...

 

[m9]

Really looking forward to the top two fights. The rest of the card is really weak in terms of talent but I think it will be an exciting card.

Reyes & Adesanya are the rightful favorites but both underdogs can hit hard enough to end the fight at anytime.

 

[CDJ]

Riddell and Kai Kara-France have such great technical standup, Eugene Bareman works with both of them I believe. I think also maybe Shane Young too.


Dawodu vs Tukhugov is gonna be a battle

Diego is Diego

William Knight got dogs in his hands

 

[pistolpete11]

Love the main. Like the co-main. Couldn't care much less about the rest of the card.

I think I've decided on picking Izzy by decision. Costa's style plays perfectly into his counterstriking. Costa will eat a few to land 1, but I don't think Costa really has that one strike KO power and we saw Izzy has a chin against Gastelum. Costa might put him in some trouble, but I think Izzy will survive and because Costa is willing to eat so many shots, Izzy will get the nod. I don't think Izzy will be able to KO Costa. I didn't think he would be able to KO Whittaker either, though. If he does, it will definitely be more of an accumulation/exhaustion type of KO. But as always, what do I know.

I don't have a great read on Reyes. His resume wasn't all that impressive when you consider most people thought he lost to Volkan. But then he...IMO...beat Jones. Did he get that much better? Was it a style thing? Or was it just the gap has closed between Jones and the rest of the LHW division? I guess we'll see. Jan is really on quite the run. 7-1 in the last 3 years with the only loss to Santos. He's technical, he's got real KO power, and he's got some subs in the UFC, too. He's a tough out for anyone in that division. Also kind of interesting, Jan has a 1 inch reach advantage. Reach isn't everything, you need to know how to use it, and I think Reyes uses it better than Jan, but I was expecting Reyes to have the reach advantage. Reyes is the rightful favorite IMO, but it seems like he is around -280 most places which seems steep IMO.

 

[ZDH]

Give me Reyes and Costa. Only guy out there who can take izzy down and I think he will. Hes not going to "fight" like romero did he'll get in there and actually throw bombs.

 

[CDJ]

Completely agree that Reyes being -280 is off, I’d have him as a -150/-175. Gonna let it ride on Blachowicz, the value is there

 

[pistolpete11]

Give me Reyes and Costa. Only guy out there who can take izzy down and I think he will. Hes not going to "fight" like romero did he'll get in there and actually throw bombs.

You mean, like, beat him, right? Not secure a takedown?

 

[BGDDYKWL]

I think those who are expecting Costa to fight like he did against Romero are gonna be surprised. I think we'll see a much more measured Costa. I'd also like to see him mix in some grappling as you could see how powerful he was in the brief exchanges he had with Romero.

There was a video of him and Adesanya from the hotel a day or two ago. Costa looked really lean. Might not be of any relevance but it seemed pretty noticeable.

 

[Perennial]

I have a feeling that Costa is gonna starch him...

 

[member 51464]

I'm nervous about weigh ins. Costa is just so f***ing big, lol.

 

[CDJ]

I think those who are expecting Costa to fight like he did against Romero are gonna be surprised. I think we'll see a much more measured Costa. I'd also like to see him mix in some grappling as you could see how powerful he was in the brief exchanges he had with Romero.

There was a video of him and Adesanya from the hotel a day or two ago. Costa looked really lean. Might not be of any relevance but it seemed pretty noticeable.

i lowkey liked that they didn’t really talk shit and seemed to be gentlemen about the encounter

they’ve said all that needs to be said at this point, let’s get in the cage and figure out who is right

If Costa is as aggressive as he’s been I think he gets finished in round 2-3. If he gives Israel less opportunities to counter he can very well win. Gonna be incredible

 

[Perennial]

i lowkey liked that they didn’t really talk shit and seemed to be gentlemen about the encounter

they’ve said all that needs to be said at this point, let’s get in the cage and figure out who is right

If Costa is as aggressive as he’s been I think he gets finished in round 2-3. If he gives Israel less opportunities to counter he can very well win. Gonna be incredible

I'm just the opposite...

I think if he's aggressive, he'll catch Adesanya at some point

 

[BGDDYKWL]

i lowkey liked that they didn’t really talk shit and seemed to be gentlemen about the encounter

they’ve said all that needs to be said at this point, let’s get in the cage and figure out who is right

If Costa is as aggressive as he’s been I think he gets finished in round 2-3. If he gives Israel less opportunities to counter he can very well win. Gonna be incredible

Completely agree. I totally get the trash talk, I totally get the hype, but that fake tough guy entourage routine gets SO old. I appreciated them being cordial as well.

I also agree that Costa shouldn't be recklessly aggressive. It plays into what Adesanya wants. I think smart aggression will be the key to him winning this fight.

 

[pistolpete11]

I agree Costa's not going to be as aggressive if for no other reason than it's a 5 round fight. At the same time, I don't expect him to change his style too much. It's been successful up to this point and I doubt he thinks he needs to change it. I also don't particularly like his chances if he turns it into a technical fight. He needs to make it a dog fight.

 

[I am not exposed]

I have a feeling that Costa is gonna starch him...

I hope so!

 

[Chaels Arms]

Izzy wasn't lying, Costa has looked very lean in all his appearances recently. I think gassing out is going to be an issue for him. I thought he started to get tired pretty quickly against Yoel.

 

[pistolpete11]

Izzy wasn't lying, Costa has looked very lean in all his appearances recently. I think gassing out is going to be an issue for him. I thought he started to get tired pretty quickly against Yoel.

I don't know how rounds 4 and 5 would go, but Costa's output was pretty even against Romero. In terms of significant strikes attempted by round: 69, 71, 73.

Round 3 went to Romero and round 2 was close (could argue it was Romero's) because Romero kicked it up a notch each round : 69, 91, 124.

Not saying you're wrong. Gas tank is always a question mark when a guy hasn't done it before let alone at this level let alone with a guy that has to cut as much weight as Costa. I just don't think gas tank was an issue against Romero.

 

[CDJ]

Yeah tbh I think Romero won that fight


You can pretty much debate all of Romero’s decision losses. Maybe not the Izzy one because nobody did anything but the other 3 I think you can make arguments for Yoel. DEFINITELY can make the argument in the 2nd Whittaker fight and the Costa fight

 

[Killahpunk]

Looking forward to the championship fights the rest of the card is a little weak.

 

[CDJ]

Diego Sanchez is the biggest underdog on the card by far

 

[I am not exposed]

Yeah tbh I think Romero won that fight


You can pretty much debate all of Romero’s decision losses. Maybe not the Izzy one because nobody did anything but the other 3 I think you can make arguments for Yoel. DEFINITELY can make the argument in the 2nd Whittaker fight and the Costa fight

I don't. It was close, but I had Costa winning. Not that it would have been a huge upset if Romero had won. I think the crowd going bat shit crazy for Romero might have had influence on the viewers and how they scored the fight.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

So they bumped into each other at the hotel this week, shook hands, joked a bit - it was a cordial exchange. Then at the presser Adesanya essentially calls Costa a bitch for being friendly to him there. I can't stand this f'ing clown. I REALLY hope Costa sleeps him.

 

[pistolpete11]

So they bumped into each other at the hotel this week, shook hands, joked a bit - it was a cordial exchange. Then at the presser Adesanya essentially calls Costa a bitch for being friendly to him there. I can't stand this f'ing clown. I REALLY hope Costa sleeps him.

I mean, Costa essentially did the same thing.

 

[CDJ]

Tukhugov missed weight by 4 lbs.


ZUB YOU FAT f***! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!

 

[BGDDYKWL]

I mean, Costa essentially did the same thing.

Costa is generally respectful. Adesanya instigated the exchange at the press conference. He's extremely arrogant and thinks he's much better than he actually is. For the life of me I can't understand how anyone likes him, nor how anyone could want him to win this fight.