Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman share different predictions for Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov fight at UFC 318

Former UFC champions Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo recently shared their predictions for the upcoming Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov fight. While Usman called the fight in favor of Kopylov, Cejudo believes Costa has what it takes to win.

Costa and Kopylov will go up against each other in a middleweight fight in the co-main event of UFC 318 in Louisiana this weekend. In an episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Usman previewed the fight and explained why he had Kopylov winning the encounter, saying:

"I'm gonna pick Roman Kopylov. I think the lack of activity for someone like Paulo Costa makes it extremely difficult to get in that groove. I do think Paulo Costa has more power in his hands and can deliver one shot to finish the fight, [but] Roman Kopylov fighting more frequently definitely helps him and I think he gets the job done."

Cejudo disagreed with his podcast co-host and explained why he had Costa taking the win, saying:

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"I'm gonna have to disagree with you. I think that Paulo Costa has fought everybody from Yoel Romero to Israel Adesanya to Robert Whittaker [and] Marvin Vettori. He's fought everybody. This is a step down from the highest level of competition. Kopylov hasn't fought the same competition that a guy like Paulo Costa has. I do have 'Mr. Secret Juice' getting back in that win column."

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Paulo Costa previews Roman Kopylov challenge at UFC 318

Paulo Costa is looking to bring back "the Paulo of the old days" against Roman Kopylov at UFC 318 this weekend. The Brazilian shared a preview of his game plan for Kopylov and admitted that he needed a reset after his last two losses.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Costa addressed his next octagon challenge and said:

''I just feel like I needed a refresh. I needed to see new things and be connected with my old style, that style to chase [opponents], to be more aggressive, to bring back the Paulo of the old days… very aggressive. You know, the fans and people around me always asked me to come back with this kind of style of fighting. So, yeah, I was looking for that [in my training], and this is who I am.''

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Edited by Nishant Zende.