What’s Beef? & A New Era
By Eddie Sanchez
Like the spoiled fans we are, it’s time to look ahead at the next great PPV. Israel Adesanya-Paulo Costa, the headliner for UFC 253, has the potential to be fight of the year according to Dana White. Izzy and Paulo have been beefing for months and on September 19th, we will get this settled in the cage.
It’s refreshing to see the life cycle of an industry-beef between two fighters be built up and concluded within the calendar year. Fans are clearly full of excitement and anticipation for this card as opposed to in boxing which is a much more drawn out process and the overwhelming feeling across the board is “finally.” This matchup looks to be tightly contested and full of fireworks.
As if this wasn’t enough to get you to empty your wallet, we are now going to be welcomed by a new era in the Light Heavyweight division.
Dominick Reyes (#1) will take on Jan Blachowicz (#3) to see who will be the next man following Jon Jones’ move to vacate the title he has held for the better part of the decade.
Reyes is the likely favorite in this title fight given that many considered that he had done enough to defeat Jon Jones at UFC 247. Despite your personal beliefs, the official record showed Jones as the victor, but Reyes will now have the opportunity to take what is his.
Despite being 37, Blachowicz has been on a tear as of late. He is 7-1 in his last eight fights (loss was to Thiago Santos) including a decimation of Corey Anderson this past February. Both men will enter the cage with the utmost confidence that they are that dude and us fans can’t wait!
Considering that this is only the co-main, UFC 253 seems to be a no-brainer purchase.
The brash confidence and talent Izzy (19-0, #4 P4P) holds will be met with the herculean physique of the undefeated Paulo Costa (13-0).
Many within the industry are torn with their predictions. The calculated dominance of Izzy has been on full display against the likes of Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker and Kevin Gastelum.
His skill and conditioning are undeniable, and he has a knack for capitalizing on his opponents’ mistakes. It’s these qualities that he sees as his greatest assets with this particular matchup: “You have to be smart enough to put it together. This guy gasses after the first round. We have five rounds. Look at me in all my fights in the fifth, the fourth round, the third round, the later rounds – I’m always fresh. So, yeah, precision is going to be the key to this fight. Precision, skill and just taking him out one by one.”
Conversely, Paulo Costa is your throwback come-forward, full-speed, step-on-the-gas fighter who will work to provide consistent pressure throughout the match. Although that work is in question according to Izzy, his brute force is undeniable.
For as dominant as he has been in the UFC however, we have seen Yoel Romero have some success countering Paulo’s aggressive nature and land quality shots. Although he was able to navigate past the danger against Romero, Izzy is a different man.
Will Paulo be able to withstand Izzy’s counters when he inevitably gets caught being too open? It remains to be seen, but given Paulo’s confidence, one would know that he believes that his greatest strengths will be more than enough to keep him honest.
What are your predictions for these two title fights?
