Marvin Vettori's callout has had the desired effect. 

'The Italian Dream' saw his aspirations of becoming the UFC middleweight champion shattered by Israel Adesanya at UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona.

Adesanya (21-0) showed there's levels to this game as he largely dominated Vettori from start to finish in their main event bout. It was a breathtaking performance.   

Speaking after the fight, Vettori took the mic to call out top contender Paulo Costa.

“To be honest, I’d like to really destroy this drunk guy that can’t even stay off drinking," Vettori said. “It’s ‘Borrachinha’ - I’d definitely like to smack this guy.”

Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long for Costa to hop on social media and respond, as he proceeded to poke fun at his hapless rival. 

“I can fight this moron if he shows up like that,” Costa wrote on Twitter, accompanied by a photo of Vettori wearing his Venum trunks back-to-front.

Costa (13-1), of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, last fought back in September 2020, where he lost to 'The Last Stylebender' at UFC 253 on Fight Island. 

Since then, the Brazilian fighter has been involved in a heated public spat with Dana White over a pay dispute, which has resulted in him being sidelined for several months. 

Despite initially being booked to face Jared Cannonier in August, Costa pulled out of the fight, citing a lack of compensation from the UFC.  

White soon replied in turn, as he correctly pointed out the 30-year-old is under contract with the UFC.

He said: "You signed a contract, you’re under contract.

"If that’s the way you feel, you know what I say all the time, we have fights every weekend.

"If you want to be busy, you can fight every weekend if you want to.

"Get out of your contract, and go do whatever you want to do."

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