Former UFC star Randy Costa reveals if he'll continue bare-knuckle fighting after spectacular debut at Gamebred FC 6
Former UFC fighter Randy Costa’s successful bare-knuckle MMA debut has given him confidence to continue with the new career path.
The American fighter competed against fellow former UFC fighter Jason Knight in his first taste of bare-knuckle MMA action. The fight took place on the Gamebred Fighting Championship 6 card that took place this past weekend. GFC is the new promotion founded by retired MMA fighter and UFC megastar Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal.
Costa performed exceptionally well in the featherweight bout and emerged victorious via first-round knockout. The fight ended in a controversial manner, however, as the referee took a while to stop the fight even as Costa graciously backed out after dropping a visibly hurt Knight. This was Jason Knight’s sixth loss in his last 10 fights.
The win seems to have given Costa a lot of confidence as he plans to build on the momentum and return to compete in bare-knuckle MMA in future. Recently, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) asked Randy Costa if he would fight in the sport again.
Costa gave a one-word reply, writing:
“Absolutely”
Randy Costa’s MMA career at a glance
Randy Costa entered the UFC as an undefeated young prospect with a 4-0 record as a professional MMA fighter. He made his promotional debut at the historic UFC 236 pay-per-view event in the bantamweight division.
However, the more experienced Brandon Davis proved to be more effective and defeated the newcomer by way of a second-round submission.
Costa put together a two-fight winning streak against Boston Salmon and Journey Newson in subsequent fights. Both bouts ended with vicious knockouts and Costa became a hot prospect in the stacked bantamweight division. The head kick win over Newson earned him the only Performance of the Night bonus of his career.
But things didn't go as planned from there, and Costa suffered three consecutive losses against Adrian Yanez, Tony Kelley, and Guido Cannetti. All three defeats came by way of a finish (two knockouts and one submission), which prompted the UFC to part ways with the 29-year-old.
Before making his bare-knuckle MMA debut, Randy Costa moved up to featherweight and competed at Combat FC against Carlos Espinosa. Costa won the fight via first-round TKO due to body punches in less than one minute.
Costa has a crowd-pleasing fighting style. Interestingly, none of his 12 professional fights have gone the distance. This makes him an interesting candidate to pull the crowd. It will be interesting to see how his career unfolds in the time to come.