Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo share their prediction for Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa fight at UFC 302
Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo have addressed the upcoming Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa matchup and given their predictions for it. Former UFC welterweight champion Usman and former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Cejudo believe that Strickland holds the edge in the highly anticipated middleweight showdown.
America's Strickland's most recent fight witnessed him lose the UFC middleweight title courtesy of a razor-thin split decision defeat against Dricus du Plessis in Jan. 2024. Meanwhile, Brazil's Costa is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Robert Whittaker in Feb. 2024. 'The Eraser' almost finished Whittaker with a spinning heel kick but was ultimately outpointed.
Presently, Strickland is scheduled to fight Costa at UFC 302. In an episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, hosts Usman and Cejudo discussed multiple topics, including the upcoming pay-per-view co-main event
Usman notably beat Strickland via unanimous decision in a welterweight bout back in April 2017. Referencing it, he acknowledged that 'Tarzan' is a tough opponent. He alluded that Costa tends to utilize a number of kicks in his fights and that Strickland is great at neutralizing kicks. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' picked the American fighter to win and stated:
"Co-main event, we've got Sean 'Tarzan' Strickland taking on Paulo Costa. 'Borrachinha.' Oof! This is a really, really, really good fight. But I have to go with Sean Strickland because of how difficult it is for someone to kick him. Even though I do think Paulo Costa could find some really, really good kicks on him, I'm gonna have to go with Sean Strickland. I know how difficult he is to fight because I fought the guy."
Cejudo indicated that Costa would probably use a striking-heavy approach at UFC 302, which could be his undoing. Picking Strickland to win, 'Triple C' said:
"If Paulo Costa just decides to strike with him, which he is, I could see why. I could see why a guy like Sean Strickland just walk him down, check the kicks that he has just like he did against Israel [Adesanya]."
Watch Usman and Cejudo's assessment below (34:20):
Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa's former sparring partner gives prediction for UFC 302 fight
Brazil's Caio Borralho holds the distinction of having trained with both Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa. The UFC middleweight contender was set to face Scotland's Paul Craig at UFC 301 (May 4, 2024), and he ended up defeating Craig via second-round KO. Prior to that matchup, Borralho analyzed the Strickland-Costa showdown.
During his UFC 301 media day segment, Borralho highlighted that Strickland and Costa are among the top contenders in the 185-pound division and that it's a good matchup. He pointed out that Costa possesses the strength advantage and superior kicks.
However, he opined that 'Tarzan' is more evolved as a fighter. With the Strickland-Costa UFC 302 match scheduled for five rounds instead of three, he predicted that it'd likely favor Strickland. Borralho said:
"It will be a five-round fight, so I think it could be an easy night for Strickland, for sure."
Check out Borralho's comments below (1:00):