"Worked for Mike Perry" - Fans react to Paulo Costa being represented by his girlfriend after parting ways with Wallid Ismail

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Mike Perry w/ Latory Gonzalez (L) and Paulo Costa w/ Tamara Alves (R) [Image credits: Getty and @tamara_alves /Instagram]

Mike Perry comparisons abounded after Paulo Costa parted ways with his manager, Wallid Ismail, and announced that he will now be represented by his girlfriend, Tamara Alves.

Though the couple have been romantically linked together for almost a decade, this did seem a tad sudden considering the tight, long-running relationship between Costa and Ismail. The move was made even more shocking by its proximity to Costa's next fight.

In a translated interview via Sherdog that addressed the recent shifts, Costa said:

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"I have nothing bad to say about Wallid. He is an honest person and very professional, I just have compliments about him. We just have different views about my career, and because of that, we decided to not work together anymore.”

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An Instagram account, titled @best.casual.mma, posted a graphic on Instagram relaying the news, and it generated a lot of discussion amongst fans.

See the Instagram post below:

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A notable amount of the comments indicated they saw similarities between Costa and Perry, including Instagram user @brianfromct, who commented:

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"Worked for Mike Perry"

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Some genuinely seemed to think losing Ismail could end up being a good move for the No.6-ranked middleweight contender, as evidenced when Instagram user @thosebasslines commented:

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"[Wallid Ismail] is actually a bad influence in my opinion. Always trying to talk smack to the opponents only to later on quickly backfire"

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The humourous comparisons between Paulo and Perry continued to abound as Instagram user @noah_monty33 commented:

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"Perry walked so Paulo could run. God bless"

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Another of the post's most-liked comments invoked the name of 'Platinum'. Instagram user @pusha_vee commented:

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"Thats a real mike perry thing to doo"

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Costa will next compete on August 20 and is set to take on former UFC middleweight world champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 278.

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Mike Perry was cornered by his significant other

Mike Perry previously had his girlfriend, Latory Gonzalez, corner him during multiple UFC fights to varying results. She was in his corner when he bested Mickey Gall at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs Hooker in June 2020 by way of unanimous decision; however, Gonzalez also cornered Perry when he lost via unanimous decision to Tim Means at UFC 255.

'Platinum' seemed to think she did a great job despite having no prior experience cornering fighters heading into these bouts.

Check out an inside look into Perry's corner in the video below:

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Like Costa, Perry is also preparing to compete next on August 20, but he will be doing so in bare-knuckle boxing. Mike Perry clashes with Michael 'Venom' Page at BKFC 27 in London, and while Perry wants to stay undefeated in the promotion, MVP will be looking to play spoiler in his bare-knuckle debut.

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