Former middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya, once one of the most electrifying and outspoken figures in MMA, now finds himself at a crossroads. Riding a three-fight losing streak with the most recent setback coming against surging 185fer Nassourdine Imavov, the former gold standard at 185lbs has undergone a noticeable transformation—shifting from a brash, trash-talking showman to one of the more humbled veterans in the sport. What caused this change? As Izzy nears the twilight of his career, he’s searching for redemption after a tough stretch inside the Octagon.Once feared for his precision striking and clinical performances against elite names like Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker, the Nigerian-Kiwi superstar built his brand on a ruthless, take-no-prisoners mentality. He embraced the “bad boy” persona, never shying away from mind games, verbal warfare, or pre-fight antics. Struggling to regain his form, Izzy is now focused on making amends with former rivals and opponents like Alex Pereira, Robert Whittaker, and Dricus Du Plessis, seeking redemption from the weight of his former trash-talking persona.However, one unresolved relationship remains in Adesanya’s career. His contentious dynamic with middleweight contender Paulo Costa. The two first met at UFC 253 in Abu Dhabi in 2020, when the Nigerian-Kiwi was the champion and ‘Borrachinha’ was the dominant challenger, both with perfect records. It is only natural that trash talk and mutual disrespect heavily fueled the fight. In the end, Adesanya secured victory in what seemed to be a cakewalk. However, the situation escalated when Izzy mocked Costa by pretending to “hump” him from behind, a move that deeply upset the Brazilian.Years later, the Nigerian export recently revealed in an episode of his YouTube channel that he reached out to Paulo Costa with a direct message in an attempt to mend their relationship. Despite his effort, ‘Borrachinha’ rejected Adesanya’s apology. “I sent him a message after the fight, and I think this was before he saw the video. I was letting him know to distance himself from the Yes Men, and we had a nice conversation. Then the next day, he said, ‘I don’t want to be your friend, I want to kill you.’ I just approved. Yeah, I don’t know if I said sorry, so I guess no.”MMA: UFC 271-Adesanya vs Whittaker, Feb 12, 2022, Houston, Texas, UNITED STATES Israel Adesanya red gloves before the fight against Robert Whittaker blue gloves during UFC 271 at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports, 12.02.2022 23:17:05, 17676709, NPStrans, Israel Adesanya, Toyota Center, MMA, Robert Whittaker PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xTroyxTaorminax 17676709However, Adesanya appears to have undergone a transformation in his attitude, which seems to have started following his knockout loss to the reigning 205lbs champion at UFC 281. Since that setback, the Nigerian-Kiwi has adopted a more humble approach to his career.Recently, Adesanya invited Bobby Knuckles onto his podcast, where they broke down the UFC 311 fight card. Additionally, earlier this month, Adesanya was seen sitting with Alex Pereira at UFC 312 in Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena. The former arch-nemesis duo enjoyed the event together and discussed sharing their skills, with hints of sparring together in the near future. Now, as he nears the twilight of his time in the Octagon, he’s determined to forge new relationships, even in other weight classes. Let’s take a closer look!Dustin Poirier and Israel Adesanya come together to praise each other“Whenever I said UFC 243 was my first title defense, some people got salty. I consider my ‘Interim’ title win a legitimate title win, and any fight after that is a title defense and unification. Both things can be true at the same time . @DustinPoirier and I won our belts on the same night! Whether ‘undisputed’ or not, he was the champion, and no one can take that away from him. Head high, my guy, let’s keep striving!” wrote Israel Adesanya on X, praising himself and former UFC interim champion Dustin Poirier.In his post, Izzy addressed critics who don’t consider interim champions as real champions. For Adesanya, he has always seen himself as a champion since 2019, when he fought for the interim title against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236. That win set the stage for him to unify the title later that year against former champion Robert Whittaker.On the other hand, despite Dustin Poirier being with the UFC for over 14 years, he only captured the interim title against Max Holloway on the same night as Izzy. Unfortunately, his dream of becoming the undisputed champion never came to fruition as ‘The Diamond’ failed to claim the undisputed gold on three different occasions against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira, and Islam Makhachev at UFC 242, UFC 269 and UFC 302 respectively. Israel Adesanya’s words resonated with Poirier, who responded with, “Appreciate you, bro!!”What do you think of Israel Adesanya’s recent shift in attitude? Do you believe his attempts to mend relationships with past rivals could help him regain his form in the UFC? Share your thoughts belowThe post “I Don’t Want To Be Your Friend” – Israel Adesanya Reveals DMs From Paulo Costa Threatening To ‘Kill’ Him for Trying To Settle UFC Rivalry appeared first on EssentiallySports.