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Chael Sonnen has recently been calling for UFC middleweight star Paulo Costa to compete at light heavyweight. He is now seemingly intrigued by Costa taking on a middleweight contender in his next potential fight. In an edition of Beyond the Fight, Sonnen alluded to Costa’s recent call-out of Derek Brunson.
He also discussed Brunson labeling Costa a “heavyweight” and turning down the latter’s challenge. Brunson revealed that he’s currently working on his craft and won’t fight again anytime soon.
Sonnen suggested that not many top-tier middleweight fighters are presently available to be matched up against Costa, saying:
“Then you have Derek Brunson. That fight makes a lot of sense. However, Brunson said no. And Brunson made a very good argument. Now, Brunson may not want to fight the sumb***h for a number of reasons. It doesn’t make any bit of difference. He said no; he said it publicly, but he said why. He said you can’t make the weight class.”
Sonnen reiterated that he understands why Brunson – who was one win away from a UFC middleweight title shot – refused to fight Costa, who missed weight twice ahead of his last fight. Nevertheless, Sonnen added:
“I don’t think Paulo’s done anything wrong by calling out Derek Brunson. I actually really like that fight. I see where that makes a lot of sense. I see where that would be a big and attractive fight. I also don’t know that I could find a more attractive fight for Derek.”
Watch Chael Sonnen address a potential Costa-Brunson matchup in the video below:
Dana White on Paulo Costa’s future in middleweight division
Paulo Costa was scheduled to face Marvin Vettori in a middleweight (185-pound) bout in October. However, during fight week, Costa admitted that he’d be unable to make the middleweight limit. The fight was then rebooked as a 195-pound catchweight bout, only for Costa to later claim he can’t cut to 195 pounds.
They eventually clashed in a light heavyweight (205-pound) bout, which Vettori won via unanimous decision. UFC president Dana White subsequently emphasized that Costa would be booked as a light heavyweight fighter moving forward.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, White said:
“He (Costa) can’t (stay at middleweight). He’s already proven that he can’t make the weight, why would we go through this again? Why would we put him through that again? He’s a 205-pound fighter now, so we’ve just gotta figure out what the next move is and who he fights first in that division.”
Dana White talks about Marvin Vettori:
Neverthelrdd, Paulo Costa’s manager Wallid Ismail and Costa himself have asserted that he’ll return to middleweight rather than competing at light heavyweight.
