Dana White Gunning to Make Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa Fight

Seems obvious, but now it’s official … Dana White tells TMZ Sports Israel Adesanya‘s next opponent will be Paulo Costa.

Of course, Costa was sitting Octagon-side when Izzy knocked out Robert Whittaker last weekend at UFC 243 in Australia … and the two talked trash to each other after the fight.

So, when we spoke with White this week he told us the two fighters are on a collision course … and if Israel emerges victorious, then we can start talking about Izzy vs. Jon Jones.

“The next fight is Paulo Costa. That’s the fight to make next and if a Jon Jones fight is possible down the line, I like it!”

Israel and Jones traded shots on TMZ over the past few months — Israel said he’s a G.O.A.T. killer and Jon replied, “I’ll make you call me daddy!”

There’s more … we also spoke with White about Justin Gaethje — who’s been trying to draw out Conor McGregor for the past 7 months.

Dana tells TMZ Sports … Conor is currently laser-focused on a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which leaves Justin in wait-and-see mode.

“I think what needs to happen now is Khabib is gonna fight Tony Ferguson and we’ll see how that plays out and where that leaves Justin Gaethje.”