There comes a time in every combat athlete’s career when like it or not, they have to move up in weight. But that isn’t supposed to happen to 30-year old freaks of nature. And frankly, that’s what Paulo Costa is. The Brazilian with dynamite in both his hands hasn’t fought since he was whitewashed by Israel Adesanya at UFC 253. Post fight he came up with an excuse list for his performance that would make Deontay Wilder shake his head. But now there’s more proof that Paulo Costa’s a mess.
And as of right now he isn’t going into details. He’s saving that nugget for post-fight Saturday night. If it still even happens now. Word trickled down that there was an issue when Marvin Vettori said during his scrum, that he heard Costa was near 212 pounds, for the 186 middleweight maximum.
Sometimes you can cut a fighter slack if a fighter misses weight, after all, they’re human; things happen. But when someone who is known for being a physical specimen should never be off weight by that much. Especially coming into a fight week. That is beyond unprofessionalism with capitals “B and U”.
Presently Vettori, who also hasn’t fought since he lost to Adesanya sits at five in the rankings. Costa is in the third spot, at least on the UFC site, and for now. All the parties are trying to now come together for a catchweight contract. But you can believe Vettori’s manager; Ali Abelaziz will see to it that he’s well compensated for this. If they can’t the UFC will have a tough time replacing this main event with any of the other 13-fights.
Paulo Costa’s A Mess
Against “The Last Stylebender”, at least Vettori twice went to the scorecards. Costa was pieced up for a round-and-a-half. He needed to reassert himself as next up, behind only Robert Whittaker. That’s not going to happen now. And Vettori, who isn’t one to not whine or use excuses fired a light shot on twitter:
This guy @BorrachinhaMMA trying to find a way out but you found a real fighter.
— Marvin Vettori (@MarvinVettori) October 20, 2021
Im about to see you.
For his part Costa made some interesting comments:
“I think making this fight a catchweight could be more exciting to the fans. More explosive fight because I want to bring the fight to him. Maybe he wants to bring the fight to me….. I can fight at light heavyweight, but I think it’s not the moment. I can fight for the title again, and take the belt.”
Sadly, no he can’t. Now, if the commissions say he needs to go up, or if Dana White demands it; it may be interesting. The fight with Yoel Romero proved he does have a chin. There’s no doubt he may be able to finish some ranked 205ers. However, could he withstand the Polish Power of Jan Blachowicz?; we may find out sooner rather than later.
