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#2. Another shot at the UFC middleweight title
Paulo Costa is a very talented middleweight. He has exceptional power and can absorb a lot of damage. Vettori tested his cardio, but Costa managed to match the pace for five rounds.
One look at Costa's body of work also proves that he is a knockout artist. He has five wins in the UFC and only one went to the judges' scorecards. It was the fight against Yoel Romero. After a slugfest, he defeated 'The Soldier of God' via unanimous decision.
Paulo Costa also knocked out former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks.
His rise through the middleweight division earned him a title shot after just five fights. He was uncharacteristically gun shy against Adesanya but survived some of Izzy's best strikes. While he did lose the fight in round two, he certainly has the skill to fight his way into title contention again.
Robert Whittaker has done it and will soon get his second shot at beating Adesanya, having slowly built his way up through the middleweight division post-injury. Costa can take a leaf out of Whittaker's book to build up to a title fight.
#1. Paulo Costa has never missed weight before
Paulo Costa fought nine times as a pro before signing with the UFC. Before his fight with Marvin Vettori, Costa had never missed weight in his previous seven UFC fights.
However, the 30-year-old has always been considered a massive middleweight. Paulo Costa also has a much higher walk-around weight and cuts a lot of bulk before every fight.
During their light heavyweight bout, the Brazilian looked considerably larger than Vettori. The Italian even said:
“If he wasn’t as big I could have finished him.”
While training for his title shot against Israel Adesanya, he weighed around 220lbs. He was still able to shed 35lbs before the fight. The California State Athletic Commission recommended he move up a division in 2019. He soon fought and beat Yoel Romero at middleweight.
Anthony Johnson missed weight multiple times at welterweight and even at middleweight. However, after missing weight for the third time, Johnson was released by the UFC. Costa has slipped up once and deserves another chance.
