Paulo Costa addresses his gameplan. Admits it was a mistake. (UPDATED WITH WALIDS INPUT)

[Phisher]

I still dont know what the gameplan was.

Either it was to counterstrike with Israel, which is the dumbest possible thing that he could've done, or he legit bought into his own hype and thought that Izzy was scared of him.

 

[WhiteMousse]

I thought Costa was going to lose but I didn't think he would fuck up that badly. I think he needs at least one win before he starts being in talks for another title shot

 

[IIIIIIII]

unless he has a cain vs. jds epiphany on how to beat adesanya, i don't see him ever beating him. we'll see. everyone deserves a second chance. it was his first loss, afterall.

 

[avenue94]

It was like his coach just copied his game plan for the Cejudo-Moraes fight.

 

[Portland8242]

Paulo though he was Yoel Romero. Pretty dumb call. Yoel can explode and fuck you up in a moments hesitation, and has ridiculous durability.

Paulo really panicked when those leg kicks started adding up and went into a sloppy exchange with Israel which led to the finishing sequence.

Homero is very tough guy and didn't let Israel's leg kicks force him into doing anything drastic like Costa did.

 

[KeiranMc]

I like Costa, but definitely one of the worst championship showings I've seen in a long time.

It was of Zingano-esque proportions

 

[Stalingrad9]

I get the unleash in the last 3 rounds strategy. They probably thought that Israel was gonna do like against Romero, kick the leg and run away.

But it's like they forgot that Izzy did that against Romero cracked him with one of the first punches he landed. Why the fuck would they expect him to do this against Costa without having Costa gain any respect from Adesanya.
I would've understood if they took like one or even 2 round off from pressuring Izzy, but you at least have to do it in the 1st so Israel is not as comfortable.

Israel was so comfortable he was basically fighting at range, sitting in a sofa with 3 Brazilian masseuses taking care of him

 

[FaTaL FaTaL]

When you have no gas tank you think up of strategies like that.

 

[campbecc]

You now know letting a decorated kickboxer kick the hell out of your leg / knee while you encourage him to do so and presented you leg like a dogs ass in heat -- was not the smart idea? You had to learn that lesson the hard way?

he could have at least checked kicks

 

[Gigaton Punch]

Ok so quite a few people on here guessed right
His cardio is shit and he can't go 5 hard, so he was taking off the first 2 rounds to save gas for later. All that did was let Izzy get his range easily and start beating on him.
Funny enough, I don't think Izzy would have dealt as well before the Romero fight. I think he took some hard lessons after that fight in how to deal with an opponent who refuses to lead

 

[cheesus]

Why didn't they switch the gameplan up then ? It was obvious he wasn't going to last more than a few rounds the way Izzy was chopping that leg, the biggest takeaway from the fight was he was scared to engage and be countered.

 

[Gamer007]

He's not getting another title shot after that performance, he blew it.

 

[r-harper-1]

I still dont know what the gameplan was.

Encourage Izzy to land leg kicks even though It was obvious he couldn’t take very many of them

 

[DelanoRunnymede]

The wrestling thing is probably the right way to go against Israel. Doesn't seem like anybody's interested in trying it though.

Best TDD at MW. People have tried. Costa might be the first person not to try and take him down actually.

 

[FloydMayweatherMMA]

He planned to do that?

For fuck's sake, that makes it even worse.

 

[1pedestrian]

Costa’s game plan was to hold back during the first couple of rounds and unleash in the final three

Worst gameplan imaginable for someone with a significant reach disadvantage and suspicious cardio. He should have listened to sherdoggers: relentless takedowns and grappling or hulk smash strategy in the first round.

 

[Starman]

Unless the gameplan was to Homer Simpson his way through the fight, I don’t know what the gameplan was.

 

[usernamee]

I thought their gameplan was going to be to try and punish Izzy's legs as much as possible, much like how Izzy did

Not easily done but with those skinny legs he has it could mean trouble for him

 

[Gas121]

I think Costa can do far better than he did. His team had a horrible game plan. I just don't thi k an immediate rematch is a good idea.

Costa did have some success but he looked gun shy. He should have unloaded early and not give time for izzy to figure it out

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Excuse, I don't believe that was the gameplan. Costa was just trying to clown Adesanya and is backfired badly, he clowned himself!!. Blowing kisses and making lots of stupid lame faces and putting his hands behind his back, but totally forgot to fight back and throw anything because of clowning, just a total punching bag in there. It was a very embarrassing performance