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Dan Hardy has offered up an amusing suggestion when discussing what Paulo Costa should forfeit to Marvin Vettori in order for the Italian to agree to a catchweight bout.
Over the course of the last 24 hours, fans have been stunned to hear Paulo Costa openly admit that he will not be able to make weight for his scheduled middleweight main event against Marvin Vettori on Saturday night.
The man himself claims to be at around 211 pounds right now. Considering he has to make 186, he’d have to go through a miraculous effort in order to even make it onto the scale by tomorrow. Instead, it appears as if Paulo Costa vs. Marvin Vettori will now be a catchweight, although the final confirmation hasn’t come through as of yet.
Dan Hardy, one of many UFC pundits who has been following this story closely, gave his thoughts on what Paulo Costa should do to convince Vettori to take the fight. Taking to Twitter, 'The Outlaw' said:
“I think if Vettori agrees to face Costa at 195lbs, he should still get 50% of his purse, and at least five bottles of red wine from Costa’s fight week stash. #UFC #RedWine #BodyBuilding”
Hardy is, of course, referring to the fact that Paulo Costa admitted he drank a bottle of red wine the night before his UFC middleweight title shot against Israel Adesanya last year.
Questions surround Paulo Costa and his unprofessionalism
While many are choosing to joke about the current situation involving Paulo Costa and his weight, others are wondering whether or not there’s an issue with his professionalism or, perhaps, lack thereof.
Marvin Vettori is ready to fight regardless of what the stakes may be. While Paulo Costa may not be everyone’s favorite fighter right now, he’s one of the scariest competitors residing in the middleweight division for a reason.
A win or a loss may impact Paulo Costa and his ability to climb the rankings. However, a title shot may be slightly further away courtesy of him not being able to make weight.
If that's the case, Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa 2 will remain a distant possibility even if the Brazilian gets his hand raised.
