{"id":363127,"date":"2020-09-30T21:42:46","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T04:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=363127"},"modified":"2020-09-30T21:43:06","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T04:43:06","slug":"anthony-johnson-blasts-paulo-costa-for-his-handling-of-ufc-253-loss-to-israel-adesanya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/anthony-johnson-blasts-paulo-costa-for-his-handling-of-ufc-253-loss-to-israel-adesanya\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Johnson blasts Paulo Costa for his handling of UFC 253 loss to Israel Adesanya"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is not impressed with recent middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa.<\/p>\n

Costa (13-1 MMA) put his undefeated mixed martial arts record on the line while hoping to dethrone middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (20-0 MMA) at last weekend’s UFC 253 pay-per-view event on Fight Island.<\/p>\n

The highly anticipated contest did not result in the “fight of the year” many were expecting to see. Instead, ‘Stylebender’ handled ‘The Eraser’ with relative ease, on route to a second round TKO victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Image via @ufc on Instagram (photographer not listed)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson was not surprised by the result in last weekend’s UFC 253 event headliner. ‘Rumble’ shared his thoughts on the contest on a recent podcast with Mike Swick.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI figured that was gonna happen,\u201d<\/em> he said regarding Adesanya\u2019s win (via MMAMania<\/a>). \u201cCosta is a little flat footed, a little bit. He\u2019ll pressure you, he knows how to go forward. I don\u2019t think he knows how to go backwards. But I\u2019ve trained with Stylebender, he\u2019s whupped my butt pretty good. Came in the gym, had just finished his kickboxing match a week or two before. And that\u2019s when I had just started my camp and he came and put a beating on me. He\u2019s really good, gotta give him credit, he\u2019s the best.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Johnson continued:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBut Costa, when you showboat like that you actually … you\u2019re not focused. How many people have played that game and have come out successful? That\u2019s not something to play with, especially not in a championship. Don\u2019t play like that. Stylebender was serious, Costa came in thinking that he\u2019s just a white belt, he\u2019s nothing, he\u2019s skinny,\u201d<\/em> Anthony Johnson continued. \u201cHey, being skinny has its advantages, dude. I don\u2019t understand all of a sudden either why Costa is getting so upset after he saw what Stylebender did to him, you know? I was like \u2018Dude, you were the one talking so much and then he gets you at the end and now you mad? Because he embarrassed you? Come on man, grow some balls. Man up to that.\u2019 It is what it is. You can\u2019t demand a rematch either after a performance like that either. That\u2019s not smart. That\u2019s not gonna sell for sure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Anthony Johnson has not fought since April of 2017, when he was submitted in his second attempt at swiping the UFC light heavyweight title from Daniel Cormier. Despite his lengthy hiatus, he does not seem to have lost a step in training.<\/p>\n

The hulking light heavyweight shared some training footage to Instagram<\/a> over the weekend, and the entire UFC light heavyweight roster is bound to take notice.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Anthony Johnson (@anthony_rumble)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n