Former contender for the UFC belt, Brazilian Paolo Costa, said in an interview with that he supports the President of the Russian Federation and the country’s position.
Costa will face Robert Whittaker on February 17 at UFC 298 in Anaheim. Previously, the fighter, ranked sixth in the middleweight rankings, was Israel Adesanya’s opponent in the title fight at UFC 253.
— Can you name the three best fighters in Russia?
– These are undoubtedly Fedor Emelianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
— For the history of Russian MMA, the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Nogueira is considered very important. You were 11 or 12 years old when this fight took place. Did you watch it then or did you watch it later?
— I remember this fight very well. I watched it live, it was around four in the morning in Brazil, I didn’t sleep all night and watched the fights from 4 to 6 in the morning. And I loved Pride, when I was little, I dreamed that I would fight like that too. At that time, I still thought that it was just a dream and that I was unlikely to realize it. But in the end it worked.
— You are from the city of Belo Horizonte. I heard about it when a Russian volleyball team was going there for an important tournament. Have you ever played volleyball or football? Do you know any of the players?
– Yes, of course, I am friends with Ronaldinho, with other athletes, I like all kinds of sports, I really like volleyball and football. In general, I am a fan of Russia and Russia’s political position is very close to me. I believe Putin is one of the main world leaders. I really like Russian culture and I would really like to come to your country,” Costa told .
Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
