By the sound of it, Israel Adesanya intends to have plenty of fun at Paulo Costa's expense leading up to their fight.
"You know when there's a bull and there's a matador, you can poke at it and get an ultimate reaction? It's exactly that," said Adesanya on ESPN's "Ariel Helwani's MMA Show" on Monday fresh off his unanimous decision win over Yoel Romero on Saturday night. "He's a guy that I don't have to poke that much, I don't have to prod. I'm going to have fun with the press conference with this one. I'm going to have fun with the lead-up.
"I'm going to have fun with poking the bear," he continued, "and I might have to (end up) slaying the bear."
After Adesanya defeated Romero at UFC 248, Costa tried to hop the rail cageside to get a hold of him only to be escorted away. The undefeated Brazilian fighter then peppered the undefeated UFC middleweight champion with insults from backstage.
"Horrible fight," Costa said during the postfight press conference , blasting the low-action clash between Adesanya and Romero. "It was a shame to watch that fight. Adesanya is nothing. Adesanya is the most shameful champion I have seen ever. He just runs. He's nothing. He's scared. He doesn't deserve talk about him, but that fight was s—.
"I will make him cry," he continued. "I will hit him very badly and he will cry like a baby."
Costa added: "The fact is, Adesanya can't handle (Romero), and Adesanya can't handle against powerful guys like Romero, Jon Jones or me. That's why he's afraid to fight."
While speaking with Helwani on Monday, "The Last Stylebender" relegated Costa's cageside antics and postfight comments as nothing more than trying to agitate an already burgeoning storyline.
"He knows who the champion is," Adesanya said. "He has to stir a narrative or something. But that fight is going to be easy. That's going to be a finish. I'll finish that f—er."
Both are in agreement that International Fight Week in July would serve as a great time for them to finally meet inside the Octagon. Costa was supposed to fight Adesanya sooner, but the Brazilian's biceps injury paved the way for Adesanya to call out Romero instead in what ultimately resulted as a snoozer.