Nigerian mixed martial arts fighter Israel Adesanya on Sunday successfully defended his UFC middleweight belt after a second-round beatdown of Brazilian Paulo Costa.
Adesanya dominated the first round delivering several kicks that caused damage to Costa’s leg at the UFC253 held in Abu Dhabi without fans.
The Stylebender finished the fight in the second round after catching Costa with a leg kick in the face and floored him with several punches.
Adesanya had vowed to knock out Costa whose last fight was in August 2019 when he defeated Yoel Romero whom the Nigerian had also fought.
Adesanya became the new UFC middleweight champion when he finished Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 last October by TKO.
The win is his 20th career MMA victory.
