Biceps injury sidelines Borrachinha for eight months and delays duel against Adesanya, says Dana White

P. Borrachinha (photo) provokes I. Adesanya again. Photo: Reproduction Facebook UFC

Bad news for Brazilian MMA fans. Tipped to be the next challenger for the middleweight title (up to 83,9kg.), Paulo borrachinha suffered a biceps injury and will be out of the sport for eight months. The information was released by UFC president, Dana White, in an interview with 'The Schmo'. The incident postpones the long-awaited meeting between Minas Gerais and the current champion of the division, Israel adesanya.

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“He had biceps surgery. So he's been gone for eight months, but we're working on something else for Israel now,” White said.

In recent months, Borrachinha and Adesanya have been provoking each other through the press and social media. The duel between the two became increasingly inevitable, until it was practically certain when both fighters won their last commitments.

The Brazilian, after a real battle against the former challenger for the category title, Yoel romero, managed to secure himself, with the company's endorsement, as the new opponent of the winner of the fight between Robert whittaker (lineal champion, at the time) and Israel (interim champion, at the time). In a fight valid for UFC 241, in August, the Minas Gerais native managed to overcome the Cuban's experience and quality and defeated his opponent with a unanimous decision from the judges.

Unlike the Brazilian, Adesanya didn't have much difficulty completing his challenge. The fighter, in a fight that represented the unification of the belt, in UFC 243, in October, provided the Australian public with a true spectacle; from his entrance to the octagon to the brutal knockout given to Robert.

Until Paulo's complete recovery, Ultimate will have to work with the main elite names in the category as possible challengers. Among them are Jared Cannonier, Kelvin Gastelum, Yoel romero and Whittaker himself.

White even took the opportunity to eliminate any possibility of Israel facing Jon Jones at your next appointment. For the boss, it is not yet the time to promote super fights.

“Israel just won the belt. Having a superfight with Jones now makes no sense. There are fighters in his category who can challenge him”, concluded the president.

In any case, Israel should only return to fighting in 2020, since, after the UFC 243, the fighter revealed that he would take some time off to rest from the large number of commitments in recent months. There were seven presentations in just over a year.