Paulo Costa

Paulo Henrique Costa, a Brazilian mixed martial artist born on April 21, 1991, competes in the UFC Middleweight division and is placed at No. 12 in the division's ranking as of May 2025. He began his professional MMA career in February 2012 in Brazil, supported by his brother, who convinced their mother to provide financial assistance for a year. Moving forward, Costa compiled a record of eight wins and no losses, winning seven fights by knockout and one by submission.

Costa made his promotional debut in the UFC on March 11, 2017, against Garreth McLellan at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum. The Brazilian dispatched McLellan in the first round to win the fight by a TKO and announced his arrival in style.

Early Life and Career

Paulo Costa started his combat sports journey at age 9 when he started his Muay Thai training. He later added Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to his arsenal and started training in the martial art at age 17. Costa transitioned to MMA in the early 2010s and made his professional debut in 2012 at MMA Total Combat: Santa Luzia against Téo Esteves. Costa dominated Esteves and TKO'ed him in the first round. He followed it up by winning his next two fights in the Brazilian MMA circuit before signing with the UFC as a participant in The Ultimate Fighter 3: Brazil. After the show ended, Costa returned to the Brazilian circuit and won two fights at FTF before signing with Jungle Fight in 2015.

Paulo made his Jungle Fight debut at JF 84 against Bruno Assis in a one-sided battle that ended in 77 seconds with a Costa TKO victory. Costa got a title shot in his next fight for the promotion against Eduardo Ramon for the vacant JF Middleweight Championship. He outclassed Eduardo and submitted him in the first round to become the champion. Costa defended the title once at Jungle Fight 90 before leaving the promotion to join the UFC.

Paulo Costa MMA Record

Paulo Costa has a professional MMA record of 14 wins and four losses as of May 17, 2025. He has won 11 fights by knockout, one by submission, and two by decision. He has also suffered one loss by knockout and three by decision.

Paulo Costa UFC Career

Paulo Costa made his UFC debut against Garreth McLellan at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum. He made quick work of McLellan and defeated him inside 90 seconds to earn a Performance of the Night bonus.

In his first UFC PPV bout, Paulo took on Oluwale Bamgbose at UFC 212. He put on a clinical performance to finish Bamgbose in the second round to win the fight. Costa built on this momentum and won his next three fights against UFC veterans Johny Hendricks, Uriah Hall, and Yoel Romero to earn a title shot at the UFC middleweight championship against Israel Adesanya at UFC 253.

Adesanya outclassed Costa in the high-stakes showdown and handed him his first defeat in MMA via second-round TKO. He returned to fight after a year against Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori. Paulo struggled to make his weight and forced the bout to be changed to catchweight (190 lbs) and then light heavyweight. He put on a competitive performance but came up short against the resilient Vettori and lost via unanimous decision.

Costa was slated to fight former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 277 on July 30, 2022. However, the bout was postponed to UFC 278 for undisclosed reasons. Costa emerged victorious in the fight, securing a unanimous decision win.

Paulo Costa lost to Robert Whittaker at UFC 298 via a unanimous decision. He returned to the squared circle in his most recent fight on June 1, 2024, and took on Sean Strickland at UFC 302. After a highly competitive fight, the former UFC middleweight champion defeated him by a unanimous decision.

Last updated on May 17, 2025