Israel Adesanya needed oxygen when knocked out COLD by virtually the same shot Paulo Costa dropped Yoel Romero with during UFC 241 slugfest

Israel Adesanya is back to defend his UFC middleweight belt, this time against Paulo Costa as the organisation returns to Fight Island.

It is hard to remember a title fight which has garnered so much attention or genuine intrigue amongst members the MMA community as the battle to determine the king of the 185lbs division draws ever closer.

‘The Last Stylebender’ and Costa seem to share a genuine dislike outside of the octagon, although it seems as though respect will be shared between both competitors after their chance encounter in Abu Dhabi.

Israel Adesanya has been knocked out once before in his fighting career

What makes the bout more interesting, though, is the fact both men are undefeated in MMA, possess incredible striking abilities and neither has ever attempted a takedown in the UFC.

However, Adesanya has tasted defeat during his career as a kick boxer and was even knocked out cold.

In his last appearance, the New Zealander was knocked spark out by Alex Pereira while fighting on Glory of Heroes 7, in 2017.

The Brazilian actually defeated Adesanya in 2016 at the first Glory of Heroes show in China, but it was to be an emphatic repeat performance as he left the 31-year-old on the deck.

Adesanya caught a sweet left hook from Pereira at Glory of Heroes 7

Thankfully, the 31-year-old was perfectly fine, despite needing oxygen

The left hook which Pereira can be seen dropping him with in the footage above is eerily similar to the shot Costa used to drop Yoel Romero during their epic middleweight clash at UFC 241.

A back and forth encounter for the ages, ‘Borrachinha’ took the fight to the Cuban in a way never seen before and put the veteran down in the first round with a short left hand.

Costa dropped Romero with a short and sweet left hook to the jaw

Perhaps ‘Borrachinha’ will seek to exploit this at UFC 253 on Fight Island

The speed and accuracy of the punch was incredible given the Brazilian’s size, yet he too found himself on the canvas just moments later when the ‘Soldier of God’ returned fire with a right uppercut of his own.

Although Adesanya has vowed to stop the 13-0 challenger, watching out for Costa’s considerable power whilst finding a way to test his granite chin is no mean feat.

However, the challenger has also talked up his ground game.

“Before I become a striker I was a grappler,” Costa said at at UFC 253 press conference. “I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu, my brother’s gym, my coach. I have a lot of knowledge on BJJ. Yes, this fight can be on the ground also.”