Costa Back In Training, Planning December ‘Annihilation’

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

“In December I will come to annihilate.”

To say things didn’t go as planned for Paulo Costa at UFC 253 would be an understatement.

Not only did he lose his big title fight against beltholder Israel Adesanya, but Adesanya made it look easy, dispatching the brawny Brazilian in two rounds without taking any significant damage. Costa then got humped doggy-style on the ground, his corner got faux-ejaculated on, and everyone basically picked apart his bad performance – including his boss, UFC president Dana White.

His sputtering declarations of revenge and demands for an immediate rematch were widely mocked too. So what to do other than get back into the gym and plan a comeback to wash the bad taste in your mouth?

That’s exactly what “Borrachinha” has moved onto. In a series of videos posted to his Instagram, Costa was right back to training and working out.

“I’m more motivated than ever to win the belt,” he said in one video. “In December I will come to annihilate.”

“Much to the dismay of some, I am more committed than ever,” Costa added in one of the captions.

And while an immediate rematch certainly isn’t in the cards, Paulo has decided to nix a move to 205 pounds in order to extract his vengeance on “The Last Stylebender.”

“I will still stay 185 to fight him again,” he said shortly after the loss. “I will fight him again sooner and he knows. I will bring back with all my weapons, ok? … Don’t worry, I know exactly what happened. We spoke with the whole team, we know what happened. Only we know what happened. Don’t worry, we’re focused here. We’ll bring the belt to Brazil. It will happen, whether you like it or not. Nothing changes. Only the ‘when’ changes.”

What do you think, Maniacs? Can Paulo Costa fight his way back into contention? And more importantly, could he prove the first fight against Adesanya was a fluke? He certainly couldn’t do much worse than the first time around.