5 reasons why Paulo Costa deserves more respect than he gets from UFC fans
This weekend marks the return to the UFC of one of the promotion’s most feared middleweights, Paulo Costa. He will step into the octagon for the first time in over a year to face Marvin Vettori.
Despite having just one loss to his name and a glittering record, it seems Paulo Costa does not get much respect from UFC fans, particularly after his loss to Israel Adesanya.
🇧🇷 Costa v Vettori 🇮🇹
We've got an absolute banger this Saturday and we're coming at you in prime-time!
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Let's go! 🔥 https://t.co/lY9FGqm4cv
In truth, that makes very little sense. Despite his loss to the current UFC middleweight champion, Costa is still undoubtedly one of the best 185lbers on the planet. He’ll hope to prove that against Marvin Vettori this weekend.
On that note, here are five reasons why Paulo Costa deserves more respect than he gets from UFC fans.
#5. Paulo Costa successfully reinvented himself so much that UFC fans forgot his TUF appearance
When Paulo Costa signed with the UFC in 2017, he came into the promotion supposedly boasting an unbeaten professional record of 8-0. He quickly turned that into 9-0 when he TKO’d Garreth McLellan on his octagon debut.
However, technically speaking, ‘The Eraser’ was not actually unbeaten when he entered the UFC. Eagle-eyed UFC fans would’ve had a reason for recognising him before his debut. That’s because back in 2014, Paulo Costa was part of the cast on the third season of TUF: Brazil.
‘Borrachinha’ was still very inexperienced at that stage, boasting a record of just 3-0. However, he was able to submit opponent Jose Roberto to seal his spot on the reality show, which was coached by rivals Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen.
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In a recent video for his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen talks about Paulo Costa’s work ethic during his time as a coach on the Ultimate Fighter Brazil. “One thing about him that I very clearly remember is that you couldn’t get Paulo out of the room. https://t.co/s9LT3FroZl
Silva ended up selecting Costa as his second-choice middleweight. The future ‘Eraser’ quickly gained a reputation for himself inside the house as a preening pretty boy and a dangerous grappler. Unfortunately, he fell to defeat against Marcio Alexandre in his first fight in the house, and was eliminated from the reality show after that.
Following his appearance on TUF, Costa was not signed by the UFC. He was largely forgotten by the promotion’s fans despite the popularity of the season. Instead, he headed back to Brazil, and honed his skills. Three years later, he entered the UFC as a deadly striker.
The fact that he reinvented himself as a striker despite being known as a grappler in his early days is quite noteworthy. He was also able to impress so much that UFC fans completely forgot about his TUF stint. That is incredibly admirable, and warrants him a lot of respect.