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Israel Adesanya ought to have his hands full with this Saturday’s UFC 293 middleweight title defense against fifth-ranked Sean Strickland at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in Australia. But apparently he’s got enough mental space to look ahead at a UFC 294 clash between ranked middleweights.
Israel Adesanya wants ‘new blood’ in the UFC MW title hunt
The champ is a massive -650 favorite over Strickland so maybe he can afford to look a little bit down the road. And October’s UFC 294 is a natural place to be looking for future challengers, provided he gets past Strickland of course, since #5 ranked Middleweight Paulo Costa will be welcoming the fourth-ranked welterweight Khamzat Chimaev to the division.
“I don’t know who’s going to win but I think if I’m favoring, I might be favoring Khamzat a little bit more,” Adesanya told MMA Fighting. “Because I like new blood.”
Adesanya humbled Costa at UFC 253 in 2020, finishing him via TKO in the second round.
“I just made Paulo look easy but trust me, he’s a hard fight,” Adesanya said. “He’s a hard fight but I made him look easy. But I think I’m rooting for Khamzat more in that fight.”
Costa has only gone 1-1 since that time, dropping a decision to Marvin Vettori in a short-lived move up to 205 pounds and decisioning the since-retired Luke Rockhold in his return to middleweight.
Chimaev weighed his way out of welterweight
Big things have been expected from the Chechen since coming to the UFC. Unfortunately, Chimaev has struggled to make the 170 pound welterweight limit throughout his career. He’s missed the limit three times in his twelve-fight career, most recently at UFC 279 against Kevin Holland.
That most recent miss has necessitated his move up to the 185 pound class where Costa will be waiting to welcome him. The odds makers like Chimaev as well, consistently favoring him over Costa.
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