Dana White Says Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa Isn’t Official

It was recently reported that UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya will defend the gold against Paulo Costa in the main event of UFC 253.

Fans may have to pump the brakes on the title fight, as UFC President Dana White says the bout hasn’t been made official yet.

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“I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think both have signed. It’s not done,” White said at the UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez II post-fight press conference (via Fernando Quiles Jr. Of MMA Mania). “F—ng guys. They were told not to say anything. Combate breaks it immediately, tweeting, you know? The fight is not done.”

Costa did tweet out that the fight was set for September, but Adesanya has been silent since the reports came out.

White also points out that the fight isn’t official since no promos have aired on TV or an official announcement wasn’t made.

“The people are out saying that the fight is done when the fight isn’t done,” he said. “You know what I mean? It drives me crazy. If the fight was done, you would have saw a promo tonight inside the arena. There would have been promos on TV for it. And we would be announcing the fight. It’s not done.”

UFC 253 takes place on Saturday, September 19 from a location to be announced and with a main event to be announced. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.

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