“CTE Program” – Israel Adesanya’s rival disapproves Muay Thai legend Rodtang’s insane training

Muay Thai icon Rodtang trains before ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang at Saitama Super Arena; UFC's Paulo Costa gives his two pennies on hardcore training.

“CTE Program” – Israel Adesanya’s rival disapproves Muay Thai legend Rodtang’s insane training

Paulo Costa pitches in on Rodtang training methods for ONE 172 (Source: IMAGO/X)

Muay Thai royalty and kickboxing expert Rodtang Jitmuangnon is indeed one of a kind in the fight game. Rodtang has been the pinnacle of competition bouts one could ask for. However, the MMA fandom often finds his prepping methods very hardcore. Now, Paulo Costa, who once faced kickboxing veteran Israel Adesanya from UFC side of things, lays into those training methods.

There are those in MMA who practice unorthodox disciplines (here’s looking at Jiri Prochazka) of absorbing hits head-on. Similarly, ‘Iron Man’ Rodtang’s Muay Thai traditionally encompasses taking hard blows to the chin and noggin head-on to close space and get into hitting pockets. Paulo Costa recently reacted to one of his recent training videos.

CTE program. Rodtang is beast but this is madness.

Paulo Costa via X (@BorrachinhaMMA)
YouTube video

That cause for concern from Costa and others is CTE. Costa has been in explosive all-out wats himself; his strike-heavy clinic vs. Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero lives on for that. ‘Borrachinha’ and other fighters have accentuated moves that help them close range one way or another. But CTE is no joke and comes at a heavy cost. Many hard-hitting veterans suffer the pitfalls of CTE to this day.

Even the game’s GOATs cannot avoid the inevitable concussion culture with one botched execution. Team Pitbull Brothers’ Paulo Costa is a BJJ and Muay Thai practitioner himself, so he finds such deliberate and extreme measures hard.

On the flip side, Rodtang jumped the bounds to face off with Takeru Segawa when he defeated Thant Zin via KO (strikes) at 2:47 of Round 2 at ONE Friday Fights 81. Now, the icons of the sport are off to a battle long in the making. Here’s looking forward to if their training methods and extreme rigor pay off.

After UFC 302 PPV loss, Paulo Costa promises new fighting style

Paulo Costa was prepping for war in a five-round PPV co-main war at UFC 302 in New Jersey. However, he suffered a rather decisive split decision loss to former 185-pound title challenger Sean Strickland. This has put him in a difficult situation.

Paulo Costa promises to regress to old UFC fighting ways, before Israel Adesanya scrap
Paulo Costa promises to regress to old UFC fighting ways, before Israel Adesanya scrap (Source: X)

Paulo Costa even deployed the help of boxing veterans Kelson Pinto (2000 Summer Olympics in Australia) and Edvaldo ‘Badola’ Gonzaga (2004 Greek Summer Olympics) for the prep. But Strickland’s shelled-up teep and jab method proved tough to answer to in the heat of battle.

Like many others, ‘Eraser’ fell behind and could not mount up much offense. Strickland defeated him on digits of 46-49, 50-45, and 49-46. After his appearance, Costa told fans in a now-defunct social media video that his original fighting style would return.

I have the power, so I need to deliver that, and I will do that. I won’t give a f***. F*** points or conserving energy or f*** anything about that; I will come to take heads off…And this is who I am, this is the kind of fighter I am, and the fighter who people expect that I perform. So I will do that.

Paulo Costa via X

During his run-up to a 2020 185-pound belt fight with Israel Adesanya, he was renowned for his breakneck momentum and warring pace. He even bagged four out of five first UFC outings. However, after Israel Adesanya and a post-fight scuffle in the cage, he switched it up. Clearly, that did not succeed as Costa has gone 1-3 in his next few showings.

In another part of the video, he concurred that he needs to switch from counterpunching to a more straight-on pace that won’t threaten his ability to last five rounds. Costa also admitted Strickland was the better fighter and the right man won. It remains to be seen if the Brazilian star can rejuvenate his UFC career.

Related: WATCH: MMA superstar Rodtang eats huge right hand from wife in training