The best and worst of UFC 226

#3 Best: Is Costa a future champion?

Paulo Costa beat Uriah Hall in scary fashion

Brazilian striker Paulo Costa burst onto the scene in 2017 with three straight knockout wins, but UFC 226 was his toughest test to date.

Faced with vaunted striker Uriah Hall – a man usually considered to be in or around the top ten at 185lbs – it felt like the first time Costa would possibly meet his physical match.

In the end though, ‘The Eraser’ not only came away with his hand raised, but his intimidating reputation is now cemented in the eyes of everyone.

It wasn’t like Hall didn’t try. Renowned for being gunshy at times, Hall certainly wasn’t last night as he popped Costa with a stiff jab early in the fight, landed some heavy shots, cut him open around the mouth and even dropped him at one point.

But it was the Brazilian who was always stalking, seemingly not even concerned with Hall’s punching power.

In the end, Costa simply walked through Hall’s offence to deliver some far nastier shots of his own. Hall was left unconscious, face-down, after absorbing one of the most brutal combinations in recent memory.

It was an eye-opening win and was probably the most violent of the night, even topping Cormier’s KO of Miocic and another impressive knockout – Khalil Rountree’s one-punch KO of Gokhan Saki.

Costa is clearly the real deal, and it’s time for the UFC to give him a step up in competition. At this rate, he could replace the ageing Yoel Romero as the scariest physical specimen in the Middleweight division.