Israel Adesanya’s first middleweight title defense will not come against Paul Henrique Costa as originally anticipated.
During an interview with "The Schmo,” UFC president Dana White confirmed that the Brazilian recently suffered an injury that will keep him out of the title picture for the foreseeable future.
“He had surgery on his bicep, so he’s out for eight months,” White said. “But we are working on something else with Israel right now.”
Costa was sitting cageside for Adesanaya’s victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 earlier this month and was initially tabbed as the next middleweight title challenger.