Alleged assault: UFC champion Israel Adesanya wants Costa freed

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya on Monday night broke his silence on accusations being hurled against his arch-rival and former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa.

The Brazilian was preparing for his next fight against former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, before landing himself in a pool of trouble. Just a few days ago, news came out that Costa was questioned by authorities for ‘striking’ a nurse.

However, the Brazilian has dismissed all the accusations and demanded an apology from the nurse.

“A false accusation of physical aggression was levelled against me and I will show for you guys the facts, the proofs and you guys will know what I’m talking about. I’m being accused of elbowing a woman who is supposed to be a nurse on her face,” Costa said.

He even showed visuals of the nurse and explained that her face would have been in a different condition if he, a professional mixed martial artist, had actually hit her. “I’m a professional MMA artist and you can imagine the damage my elbow may cause on an unprotected woman’s face?”

Reacting to Costa’s clarification, Adesanya demanded that Costa be freed with a hashtag dedicated to his former opponent.

Adesanya posted the hashtag with his Twitter account commenting under Costa’s post.

Both fighters fought each other at UFC 253, with reigning champion Adesanya making quick work of Costa.

After UFC 253, Adesanya aimed for the light heavyweight strap, which went horribly and accounted for his sole MMA loss. Costa, on the other hand, has only fought once since the Adesanya fight and has lost that too. Punch