Rival and tormentor, Israel Adesanya praises Paulo Borrachinha for his victory at UFC 318

P. Borrachinha (left) was defeated by I. Adesanya (right) at UFC 253. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook @ufc

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Paulo Borrachinha 's performance in the victory over Roman Kopylov , in the co-main event of UFC 318, last Saturday (19), was so good that it earned praise even from one of the Brazilian's biggest rivals in the organization. Israel Adesanya , who defeated the Minas Gerais native in a middleweight title fight (up to 83,9 kg) in 2020, was full of praise during and after the fight.

As usual, the Nigerian published, on his official YouTube channel, a video with his reactions throughout UFC 318. At the time of the co-main fight, the former champion did not spare praise for the performance of Borrachinha, who beat the Russian Kopylov in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

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"Costa's fighting well, man. He's fighting clean as f***. He's choosing his strikes well. That uppercut straight to the body. Costa was on fire today, he's back. Good job, man. Finally! It was the old Borrachinha. He fought really well," praised Adesanya.

Before UFC 318, Adesanya joked about the possibility of a rematch with Borrachinha

In the days leading up to UFC 318, Israel Adesanya posted a video in which he criticized Paulo Borrachinha 's recent form and even appealed to the Brazilian to return to being the fighter he was when he competed for the title about five years ago. The Nigerian even joked, stating that he would grant his rival a rematch if he won and performed well against Kopylov.

“Paulo Costa, where are you? I can't remember. He's still a dangerous guy. Costa, show up, man! Show up and show them. Costa has everything, but I don't know. Who is he training with? Costa needs to get serious again. He's fun to watch, but show some shit, man. Get back to where you were before you fought me. Take this more seriously. Fuck everyone, I like Costa. I don't think he's a bad guy. But he needs to show some shit, get serious again, show up to fight. Stay motivated and disciplined. If you win, I'll let you fight me again… no, I'm just kidding,” said the former champion.

Paulo Borrachinha should maintain his 13th position in the ranking with his victory over Roman Kopylov , ranked below, at UFC 318. The next update of the top 15 will take place this Tuesday (22). Although Khamzat Chimaev is his unchangeable target, the Brazilian is likely to need at least one more victory before reaching the Chechen, confirmed as the next challenger for Dricus Du Plessis' belt in the main event of UFC 319, on August 16.

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