Paulo Costa wanted to fight Adesanya at UFC 248, despite still recovering from bicep surgery, and UFC President Dana White says Costa went to extreme lengths in an attempt to return for the show.
“I respect him,” White said at a recent media scrum (via Jesse Holland of MMA Mania). “I respect the fact he wants to fight. ‘I’m ready, I’m ready,’ no you're not. You’re not a doctor. And then he got some guy who’s his buddy or something to say he’s okay. No, that’s not how this works. I don’t want to push him and make him hurt himself again. Take your time, you’re getting the fight, that fight is gonna happen, don’t worry about it.”
Costa obviously wasn’t cleared in time for UFC 248, but hell be in attendance at the event to see what goes down in the main event.
White would like to see Romero slow things down a bit so that the fighter doesn’t re-injure himself.
“He’s close, but let’s take our time,” White said. “The more time the better with that injury. Then he starts throwing up videos of himself hitting the mitts and doing all kinds of crazy shit that he probably shouldn’t be doing right now. But he’s a freak athlete too, so who knows. I just don’t want the guy to get hurt again.”
UFC 248 takes place on Saturday, March 7 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
