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The UFC will host another thrilling Fight Night card this weekend at their Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC Fight Night 196, also dubbed UFC Vegas 41 or UFC on ESPN+ 54, will go down on Saturday, October 23, 2021. The event will be headlined by a clash between Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa.
The co-main event will see Grant Dawson take on Ricky Glenn in a lightweight contest. Before that, Jessica Rose-Clark will fight Joselyn Edwards in a women's bantamweight battle.
UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori
The main event of the night, where No.5-ranked Marvin Vettori will meet No.2-ranked Paulo Costa, was supposed to happen at middleweight. However, 'Borrachinha' revealed, with just two days remaining before the fight, that he would not be able to make the 186-pound limit.
It was initially reported that the bout would go ahead at catchweight of 195 pounds, a change that was agreed to by Vettori. However, the contest will now take place at light heavyweight.
Costa weighed in at 204.5 pounds, while Vettori tilted the scales at 204 pounds.
All 28 fighters competing on Saturday’s card successfully made weight.
Ahead of the weigh-ins, Costa shared a video on his social media while in a sauna suit. He said he does not like cutting weight "too much" for fights.
Paulo Costa has been condemned by some of the top names in MMA for his antics regarding his weight. Marvin Vettori, on the other hand, has been praised for his gamesmanship and professionalism, having accepted multiple changes that the bout was subjected to because of his opponent.
Costa will be forfeiting 20 percent of his fight purse to Vettori to compensate for the last minute changes in weight. Both are coming off title losses to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Costa faced 'The Last Stylebender' at UFC 253 last September. The Brazilian suffered a TKO loss in the second round. Costa later revealed that he had consumed a whole bottle of wine the night before, a revelation that has earned him a lot of backlash. This weekend will see 'The Eraser' enter the octagon for the first time since. He previously turned down a bout against Jared Cannonier in August citing issues with pay.
Vettori, meanwhile, fought Adesanya in his last UFC outing in June this year at UFC 263. In the main event, 'The Italian Dream' lost via unanimous decision.
Latest UFC Fight Card: Which Fighters are Competing?
