Israel Adesanya has spoken after he retained his UFC middleweight title after a fight against Paulo Costa in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Adesanya who is yet to record any defeat made the match his 20th MMA fight.

The Nigerian was the bigger opponent in the first round and ended the match in the second round by leaving Costa bloodied and with an undefeated recorded broken.

Speaking after the match, Adesanya said: “I said it before, Anderson Silver left a huge legacy in this division and I said I wanted to do service to the middleweight division and that’s a tough act to follow, but we’re doing the work,” he said after the fight.

“I already messaged Jared Cannonier, he is a hell of a dude. I love his energy, I said, you destroyed Robert Whittaker, you are next. He’s the one I want to fight next.”